Dead Island 2 celebrates going gold by changing its release date one last time, so now it’s releasing a week earlier

Dead Island 2 (opens in new tab), which has yet to apologise for making me write the words “Flesh system” over and over again, has changed its release date once more. After a parade of delays that saw the game slip from year to year and month to month, Dead Island 2’s final surprise is that it won’t be releasing on April 28. It’ll be releasing a week earlier, on April 21. It’s an Easter miracle, my friends.

You’ve got a little over two months until you can see a game that was first announced nearly ten years ago, in the Edenic world of 2014. I have to admit, I’m very curious to see how it’ll turn out. We’ve had two Dying Light games in the vast interim between Dead Island 2’s announcement and release date, and I liked them both quite a bit more than I did Dead Island. I’m hoping the second game manages to grab me more forcefully than its predecessor did.

We’ve heard quite a bit about Dead Island 2 in the last few weeks. Whether it’s the game’s procedural wounding and dismemberment system, known as the—here it comes again—“Flesh system,” (opens in new tab) or its card-based “skill deck” mechanic (opens in new tab), we have a pretty good idea of what to expect come April. I’m cautiously optimistic: everything I’ve seen so far has sounded interesting, and all that remains to be seen is whether the game can still manage to come together after nearly a decade in the oven.

Dead Island 2 will hit the Epic Games Store (opens in new tab) on April 21, with no Steam release in sight as of yet. I wouldn’t worry too much if you’re zealous about keeping your games in one place, though; I strongly suspect Dead Island 2 will join its predecessor over on Valve’s store at some point. Perhaps, I don’t know, around a year after it releases on Epic?