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Losing ‘Dead Island 2’ Was a “Catastrophic Blow” for Yager
When Deep Silver announced they had made the decision to part ways with Dead Island 2 developer Yager following a difference in creative opinion that must not have come up during the three years it had been in development, it was difficult to see how the project could ever be exhumed from the shallow grave its own publisher was digging for it.
Whatever it’s fate might be, it’s had a very real impact on its former developer.
“Having a project cancelled in such a late state is a catastrophic event on so many different levels,” explained Yager managing director Timo Ullmann in a recent interview with GamesIndustry. “It really is the worst possible outcome. Everybody involved loses.”
The full outcome remains to be seen, but it’s already claimed the studio that had been working on it when Yager Productions closed its doors in July.
“It’s tough, and not being given the chance to finish Dead Island 2, that… that hurts, you know? Right after the announcement a part of the team was a bit shell-shocked, of course, but you have to motivate yourself to keep going. Cancellation of projects, especially if the stakes are so high, is not unheard of. It hurt us, yes, but it happens.”
The chances of our seeing anything positive come out of this are looking grim right now. Deep Silver has yet to announce Yager’s replacement, and now that Dead Island: Epidemic has ceased to exist, I’m beginning to wonder if this franchise hasn’t met an extremely premature end.
We have learned the sad news this week that prolific horror author Ray Garton, who wrote nearly 70 books over the course of his career, has passed away after a battle with lung cancer.
Ray Garton was 61 years old.
Stephen King tweets, “I’m hearing that Ray Garton, horror novelist and friend, died yesterday. This is sad news, and a loss to those who enjoyed his amusing, often surreal, posts on Twitter.”
Ray Garton’s novels include Seductions, Darklings, Live Girls, Night Life, and Crucifax in the 1980s, followed in later decades by output including A Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting, Trade Secrets, The New Neighbor, Lot Lizards, Dark Channel, Shackled, The Girl in the Basement, The Loveliest Dead, Ravenous, Bestial, and most recently, Trailer Park Noir.
Garton also wrote young adult novels under the name Joseph Locke, including the novelizations for A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master and The Dream Child. He also wrote the novelizations for Tobe Hooper’s Invaders from Mars and Warlock, as well as several books for the Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchises.
Other young adult horror novels you may remember the name Joseph Locke from include Petrified, Kiss of Death, Game Over, 1-900-Killer, Vengeance, and Kill the Teacher’s Pet.
You can browse Ray Garton’s full bibliography over on his official website.
He wrote on his website when it launched, “Since I was eight years old, all I’ve wanted to be was a writer, and since 1984, I have been fortunate enough to spend my life writing full time. I’ve written over 60 books—novels and novellas in the horror and suspense genres, collections of short stories, movie novelizations, and TV tie-ins—with more in the works.”
“My readers have made it possible for me to indulge my love of writing and I get a tremendous amount of joy out of communicating with them,” Garton added at the time.
Ray Garton is survived by his longtime wife, Dawn.
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