“Dead Island 2” is down, might get back up again
Techland’s first-person zombie brawler “Dead Island” was an unexpected hit for Deep Silver back in 2012. With a nation infected with a zombie love, the gory co-op adventure went on to spawn two sub-par spinoffs (Half-sequel “Dead Island: Riptide” and “Escape from Dead Island”) and a flashy sequel at last year’s E3.
However, original developer Techland wasn’t attached. It has since moved on to its own first-person zombie title “Dying Light.” “Dead Island 2” was under the watchful eye of Yager Studios (best known for the psychological military shooter “Spec Ops: The Line”), but nothing had been made public since that initial E3 reveal.
That lack of progress makes a little more sense this week, as Deep Silver has announced that Yager has split ways with the project over “conflicting visions.” No word has been given on who will take its place, but expect word soon on who will be taking over the reigns.
Tamriel, Gotham, among June’s most popular tourist destinations
Sales data from June (as gathered by the consumer-tracking firm NPD Group) hit this week and offered a peek at what titles were most popular for last month. As expected, “Batman: Arkham Knight” dominated store shelves and was only contested by “Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unleashed,” the console version of the popular PC MMORPG.
It’s important to note that NPD fails to account for digital sales though, meaning “Arkham Knight’s” widely reported PC problems didn’t figure into the games’ position on this chart. The PS4 also outsold the XBox ONE in the previous month, boosted by a shiny Batman bundle.
As for PC owners of “Arkham Knight,” they may be left waiting awhile for that version of the game to return to digital marketplaces.
Gaming news outlet Kotaku Australia obtained an email from a source at EB Games that stated: “We have stopped sales of “Batman: Arkham Knight PC” while Warner and Rocksteady work on addressing performance issues with the game. The latest information from Warner is that the updates won’t be available until spring [which would be in the fall for the US].”
This paints a bleak picture for PC players who dealt with the poorly optimized initial release.
Could the cancelled “TRON 3” return as “TRON: Escape?”
Fans of neon lights and intense techno music all shed a tear several moons back when Disney announced that they would not be pursuing a sequel to 2011’s “TRON: Legacy.” While the project was initially greenlit with director Joseph Kosinski on board, poor reception to Disney’s other not-Star Wars–nor-Marvel film “Tomorrowland” killed investor confidence.
But if a rating from the Brazilian Advisory Rating System (which previously broke embargo for “Gears of War: Ultimate Edition”) is to be believed, a game titled “TRON: Escape” will be released for the PC, PS4, and XBox ONE. No further details can be gleaned from the rating, but fingers crossed for a return to the grid in the very near future.

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