Dead Island 3 targets a 2028 release date, with early development "moving at pace" already

The decade-long wait for Dead Island 2 was an arduous one, but it seems we won't have to endure similar pain when it comes to Dead Island 3. The previously teased sequel has just been mentioned in financial documents by Dambuster Studios, which says that all of the company's developers are now focused on the new game and that progress is "moving at pace." It also contains an expected Dead Island 3 release date window, which will land in 2028.

I always feel an odd (and occasionally shameful) magnetic pull towards cheesy, blood-soaked zombie games, and Dead Island provides the strongest magnetism of them all. Do I care that the narrative is predictable, the characters are corny, and that all semblance of apocalyptic realism gets thrown out the window. Hell no, I don't. I'm content swinging away with my electrified katana and shooting zombs in the head with a god-tier nailgun. Judge me all you like, I get a lot of enjoyment out of games like Dead Island 2, so I was very happy when Dambuster teased that a sequel was in the pipeline earlier this year.

Now, Dead Island 3 has been mentioned in the studio's most recent financial statements. In a new filing that covers the previous financial year, which ended on March 31, Dambusters says that Dead Island 3 is its "primary focus" and that "all developers are assigned to the project." It also says that once Dead Island 2's Mac and Amazon Luna versions are completed and rolled out, all of the QA department will be on DI3 as well.

The document, which was spotted by notable games industry sleuth 'bogorad222' on X, also states: "Parts of the game are now in early production, with feature, character, world and story design moving at pace."

Finally Dambusters shares its internal release window for Dead Island 3, which is currently set for "Q1/Q2 2028." As this is a financial document, this may potentially refer to the 2028 financial year, which would run from April 2028 to April 2029, rather than the calendar year. However, documents of this nature tend to typically represent financial years as 'FY2028,' or something similar.

In the teaser posted back in September, the studio said: "The next outbreak? Dambuster is already drenched in the work. The journey is far from over…" Now, we've got a more official idea of where Dead Island 3 is at, and when we can expect to see it arrive. However, as I'm sure you know all too well by now, delays are commonplace and plans are always susceptible to change, so there's every chance DI3 could arrive later than 2028.