https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/epvnj7/dead-island-2-development-hell-immersive-sim

I fondly remember those days in 2011 playing the original Dead Island, slashing zombies in the oppressive heat of a crappy apartment above a corner store. A decade later, in less dirtbaggy environs, I’m smashing and slicing my way through zombie hordes again in Dead Island 2, and I can hardly believe how much I love it. 

I’m clearly not alone, as publisher Deep Silver and developer Dambuster Studios announced that the game sold over one million copies in its first three days post-release. This was far from a foregone conclusion. Dead Island 2 went through years of development hell of the kind that few games have survived intact. It was announced in 2014 with Yager Development attached to develop it. The game went through a total of 4 studios—including the original developer, now heading up the Dying Light games, Techland—before being handed to Dambuster, an in-house studio of the publisher.