Dead Island (series)

Dead Island is an action role-playing survival horror video game series published by German studio Deep Silver^[1] for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There are currently 3 installments in the series, with a fourth one scheduled for 2016. It is centered on the challenge of surviving a zombie-infested open world island with a major emphasis on melee combat.

Dead Island was originally announced at E3 2006,^[2] but was pushed back to 2011. It was released on 6 September 2011 in North America, 9 September 2011 in the PAL regions and 20 October 2011 in Japan. A stand-alone expansion, Dead Island: Riptide, was released in 2013. A sequel, Dead Island 2, is set to be released in 2016. A spin-off, Escape Dead Island was released in 2014. A MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game based on the Dead Island series called Dead Island: Epidemic was cancelled during the open beta phase in 2015. The free-to-play title had been available on Steam early access since May 2014, but eventually never saw a full release and was completely shut down.

Video games

Related media

Comic

A one issue comic book version of the series was released by Marvel Comics, and begins with Roger Howard, an investigative journalist, as he looks into the illegal exploitation of Banoi Island's resources. He appeared in the game as a voice, leaving behind tape recordings.

The story begins just as Roger Howard arrives. He explains why he is at the Royal Palms Resort, and then begins to target Kenneth Ballard the Royal Palms' manager. After gaining access to his office, Roger finds detailed files on Xian Mei, Purna, Logan Carter, and Sam B. After going through the files, Roger hears a knock on the door. Before opening it, he begins to explain that he was looking for the bathroom. Unfortunately, after opening the door, he comes face-to-face with a zombie. The story then ends, with Roger's fate unknown. In the video game, audio logs of Roger are found, with him slowly going insane from being infected, and when the survivors reach the prison, they find his last audio log, which implies a prison guard killed him once he became infected, with the log found next to (presumably) Roger's corpse.

The audio logs detail his journey, which is revealed that he and a group of survivors tried to escape into the jungle, but crashed. The driver and Roger were attacked by an infected Orangutan, with the driver dying and Roger escaping. Roger makes it to the prison, and he states he is making this log for scientists to see the full symptoms of infection, and starts hallucinating about his son.

Film

On 27 September 2011, Lionsgate has announced that they have acquired rights to develop a film based on the game's announcement trailer, as its portrayal of a family desperately fighting for their lives provided artistic inspiration.^[5] The studio will join producer company Occupant Entertainment and the game company Deep Silver with filming to begin in 2015.^[6]

Novel

A novel based on the events of the first game, and written by Mark Morris was released concurrently with Dead Island.

References

Deep Silver
Current franchises	Dead Island Emergency Metro Risen Saints Row Secret Files X
Studios	Volition Fishlabs Entertainment Dambuster Studios
Related companies	Koch Media