The recently releasedDead Island 2is a momentous title for many reasons, with fans simply being overjoyed to finally play the game given its unprecedentedly long and at times unsure development cycle. As well as this, the release marks a confident return of the IP into the genre of zombie survival video games, which has since become spearheaded by other franchises that dominate the genre.
With that being said,Dead Island 2essentially puts the franchise back on level terms with other IPs such asDying Light, which itself recently received its own second mainline installment. The release ofDead Island 2is subsequently a great marker for competition within the wider gaming industry, with many other once-competing franchises falling to the wayside in terms of presence and sway. For example, this release comes at a time where the likes ofBattlefieldare greatly falling behind their competitors, such asCall of Duty, and these struggling IPs should look to replicateDead Island 2’ssuccess.
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The Growing Gulf Between Battlefield and Call of Duty
When looking back upon the entire history of the popular first-person shooter genre, no two franchises are quite as synonymous with this particular frame of gameplay astheCall of DutyandBattlefieldIPs. Over the course of decades, both franchises have painstakingly released numerous and frequent installments, showcasing warfare in a variety of temporal and physical contexts.
BothCoDandBattlefieldare known for their single-player narratives and their intense online multiplayer, with the two gaming titans often competing directly against one another for dominance within the saturated and highly competitive business of FPS titles. However in recent years, the industry presence ofBattlefieldhas significantly slipped to the advantage ofCall of Duty, with the recentBattlefield 2042being considered a disappointment by many long-term fans. When considering howCoDhas only grown in this time thanks to its reboot of theModern Warfarefranchise and the popularity of itsWarzonebattle royale, it is clear thatBattlefieldhas a lot of work to do if it hopes to regain its lost ground.
The first installments to theDead IslandandDying Lightfranchisescame out in 2011 and 2015 respectively, with both of these launch titles being developed by Techland. With the similar time of release and creative vision behind both franchises, it is no wonder that the IPs are so similar, and have often been pitted against one another as competing IPs within the contemporary zombie-centric gaming space.
While both games were well-received, theDead Islandfranchise would soon go into a kind of limbo, with thedevelopment ofDead Island 2being a long and uncertain processthat took over a decade to be finally realized. In this time, the later-releasedDying Lightreceived another successful sequel in early 2022, putting the franchise far aboveDead Islandin terms of continued presence and evolution.
However, the more recent release ofDead Island 2has brought the franchise level withDying Lightin the eyes of many, with it being likely that the two IPs will once again compete against one another in the future. This is a great sign for the wider gaming industry when considering how more and more genres are becoming monopolized, giving hopes to the likes ofBattlefieldthat sustained effort can bring IPs back to a competitive position.
Dead Island 2is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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