[STEAM] Dead Island 3 Due Out First Half of 2028, All Developers at Dambuster Studios Now Working on It

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We have new official information on Dead Island 3, which is not only now confirmed to be in development, but has a target release window.

In a financial report spotted by X /

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user @bogorad222, the Plaion-owned *** developer Dambuster Studios said its primary focus is now Dead Island 3. This is the first time we’ve heard Dead Island 3 mentioned in any official capacity, although

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Dambuster Studios' financial statements are out (as of March 2025)
The company employed 194 employees
Dead Island 3 is in development
The current predicted release window for the project is Q1/2 2028

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— Timur222 (@bogorad222)

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The report mentions that all Dambuster’s developers are now on Dead Island 3, and once the Luna and Mac versions of Dead Island 2 are complete all of Dambuster's QA team will also move over to Dead Island 3. As of the end of March 2025, Dambuster had 194 employees.

“Parts of the game are now in early production with feature, character, world and story design moving at pace,” the report continues. And here’s where things get really interesting: we even have a “current predicted release window” of Q1/2 2028. So, as things stand, Dead Island 3 is due out by the end of June 2028.

The existence of Dead Island 3 shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. In September, Dambuster posted the image, below, alongside the caption: “and the next outbreak is already brewing.”

“It's been 14 years since Dead Island first splattered onto the scene, stranding players in the blood-soaked paradise of Banoi,” the message continued.

“Since then, the zompocalypse has crawled from tropical shores to the sun-drenched chaos of HELL-A in Dead Island 2, where over 20 million Slayers have left nothing but carnage behind.

“This isn’t the final cut though. Dambuster Studios are already carving out what comes next. For now, the details stay under wraps, the outbreak is far from over…”

Based on the image, we can safely say Dead Island 3 will be set somewhere other than LA, which stands to reason. But where? Given the person shown in the image is hitching a ride, perhaps Vegas is a natural stopping off point. But really, it could be anywhere. After all, the first Dead Island was set on a fictional island chain in Oceania.

If Dead Island 3 does come out the first half of 2028, it’ll arrive five years after Dead Island 2, which itself suffered long periods of development hell before eventually enjoying significant success. Dead Island 2 was revealed at E3 2014 but soon went quiet before "mutual differences" separated Yager from Deep Silver. It was then moved to Sumo Digital before being shifted again in 2019 to its final home of Dambuster Studios. A new trailer and gameplay video was released on December 6, 2022, during a Dead Island 2 showcase that announced it was delayed once again, slipping 12 weeks to April 2023.

The question is, when will we get our first look at Dead Island 3? Perhaps 2026 will bring a teaser trailer.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on

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at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld.

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