Why Deep Silver and Yager parted ways on Dead Island 2

Yesterday, in a surprising announcement, Deep Silver revealed they had parted ways with development partner Yager on Dead Island 2.

In just a brief statement, the publisher didn't provide a clear explanation for the move, only saying that since the beginning they've been  "dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve."

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Yager Development's managing director Timo Ullmann provided a bit more clarification on the subject, revealing that it was creative differences that caused the two to part ways.

"Our team is made of the best creative minds and tech specialists, who all share a common identity," he said. "The team worked with enthusiasm to take Dead Island 2 to a new level of quality. However, Yager and Deep Silver's respective visions of the project fell out of alignment, which led to the decision that has been made."

Yager, perhaps best-known for its work on the acclaimed story-driven shooter Spec Ops: The Line, is currently working on Dreadnought, but Ullman also hinted at the existence of one or more unannounced projects.

"All I can reveal at this point is that Gamescom will be awesome," he said.

Dead Island 2, first revealed in 2014, was originally set to release in spring of this year, but was delayed until 2016 after the developers "didn't reach the goal we set out to achieve quite yet." Since the original delay announcement, news regarding Dead Island 2 had been sparse, with no showing at E3. At this point, the status of Dead Island 2 remains a mystery.