Video Games
‘Dead Island 2’ Has Now Sold Over Two Million Copies Since Launch
Deep Silver’s Dead Island 2 keeps on chugging. After selling over a million copies in its first three days after launch, according to Embracer Group’s latest interim financial report, Dead Island 2 has now sold over two million copies since its launch last month (thanks, Gematsu).
Not only that, but the interim report also states that over the first seven days of the sale period, Dead Island 2 has become Deep Silver and parent company PLAION‘s biggest launch in history in both units sold and revenue.
“I am happy to state that [Dead Island 2] has now reached a sell-out of well over 2 million units,” states Embracer Group co-founder and CEO Lars Wingefors. “It is rewarding to see that the decision to give the studio time to polish the game has paid off.”
While the news is encouraging for fans after nearly a decade in development, the question of profitability will ultimately factor in how the series will proceed. A decade of development isn’t exactly cheap, after all. Still, we’re at least guaranteed additional chapters for the Dead Island 2, thanks to the Expansion Pass. No word yet on just when those will arrive.
Dead Island 2 is currently available on PC via the Epic Games Store, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Video Games
Bloody Body Horror Revealed in ‘Stellar Blade: Blood Rain’, Currently in Development [Trailer]
Shift Up has shifted things dramatically from 2024’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade, offering up a body horror bonanza in the newly announced sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The sequel is currently early in development, but if the trailer is any indication, players will be in for plenty of body horror.
Continuing the story from the original Stellar Blade, Blood Rain will star a new protagonist named Eve. Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of humanity has fled to a Colony in outer space.
Shift Up had mentioned during a Q&A following its latest earnings presentation last month that development on Blood Rain (which was still unannounced at the time) was progressing smoothly, and was on track to meet their targeted quality standards.
Shift Up stated that with this new title it would be transitioning to a first-party service model, effectively moving away from the restrictions the game experienced with original publisher Sony, which had the game under an exclusivity agreement for the PlayStation 5. “This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”
Whether this means that Xbox Players will finally be able to play the original game (or its sequel) is still not clear. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is reportedly being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, but no official confirmation has been made.