Over the last few years, Dead Island 2 has become the punchline that many gamers would point to as a game that was stuck in a never-ending development cycle. While Dambuster Studios has only had the game for four years, that didn’t stop other developers from poking fun. But it seems that Dambuster has enjoyed the memes and the developers were thrilled by Goat Simulator 3’s trailer.
In an interview with Dot Esports, the developers said they had no forward notice of the trailer before it aired. “I think the Goat Simulator 3 trailer was a massive surprise as well,” developer Dan Evans said. “We had no idea they would do it.”
“The work just stopped,” narrative designer Ayesha Kahn said. “Everyone was passing it around saying ‘Have you seen this?'”
The Goat Simulator 3 trailer mimics the beginning of the Dead Island 2 2014 E3 trailer and then continues through the same theme of a character running while chaos ensues behind them. Paired with Geoff Keighley’s misleading introduction, this spoof seemed to trick everyone before the titular goats arrived to wreck the scene.
Not only did Dambuster find joy in the trailer, but Evans also seemed to imply that it re-invigorated the team, even if they didn’t know their own release date announcement was happening soon. “But I think it was a really positive thing because it kind of sorta like re-energized us,” Evans said.
The team also said they love the memes they’ve seen so far, but they haven’t been able to dive too deep due to work. They’re following the hashtags, though. “The only one I’m really aware of yet and I’m delighted about is that the internet declared Jacob their new boyfriend,” Kahn said. “And everyone thinks he’s Lenny Kravitz,” Evans said.
Dead Island 2 is set to be released on Feb. 3, 2023.
