There’s good news for Dead Island fans releasing from British game developer Dambuster Studios today. After just two years since the release of Dead Island 2, the studio has confirmed via its yearly financial report that Dead Island 3 is actively in development. Perhaps even more promising is the predicted release period that’s provided in the documents, specifically aiming for “Q1/2 2028”. As we’re about to enter 2026, that’s practically only two years away.
Dead Island was one of the biggest names of the zombie game craze throughout the 2010s. The bloody and silly RPG had players trying to survive a zombie outbreak on a beautiful resort island, and was highly praised by fans for its melee combat and gameplay. Releasing in 2011, it was a twelve year wait for its 2023 sequel Dead Island 2, itself needing to survive a turbulent development cycle and three changes in studio. Eventually, it was developed and released by Dambuster Studios, an internal studio of publisher Deep Silver – and it appears that they’re here to work on Dead Island for good.
The sequel confirmation is perhaps unsurprising given the commercial success of the game. After just a year on sale, Dead Island 2 had sold 3 million units worldwide, and both critics and fans were happy with the game’s state at launch. It was something of a miracle given its rough development that the game was able to release to such success, even receiving a nomination for Best Action Game at The Game Awards.
Whilst many zombie games have come and gone over the last 15 years, Dead Island is up there with Dying Light for the most persistent and successful franchises in the genre. For more gaming news, including the latest on Dead Island 3‘s development, keep your eyes on GameObserver.
