All Articles: Dead Island: Riptide

Some days, I feel like the gaming industry is making progress in accepting its female audience and making them feel welcome. But then something happens, like Deep Silver announcing a mutilated female torso statue with a Union Jack bikini barely covering up its lady bits, and all that faith starts to crumble.

Their reprehensible UK-only “Zombie Bait Edition” for Dead Island: Riptide was announced earlier today, and was quickly followed up by an apology, but the damage was already done. Many gamers, especially freelance writer Jenn Frank, were absolutely outraged. “People, how did we get here? Really? Really. How is a woman’s mangled body, a literal trophy on your desk, even remotely defensible,” she tweeted. Frank’s statements were on point, and she didn’t let up: “Stop sending me apologies. It takes a profound amount of foresight to conceive, design, produce a limited run, and then announce them.”

What can Deep Silver do to make up for this? I don’t imagine they can, at this point. Sure, they’ll still sell games, but they’ve just lost a lot of respect. All I want to do is quote Frank more: “So hey, I have as much right to this as you do, right? You can still have a voice, I’m so into that. But here’s a thought: BE LESS HORRIBLE,” and “Anyway, if you play games, I love you. You understand my world, and you already know games can change the world. So don’t stand for this BS.”

The Mary Sue had a good point – the apology doesn’t ever say the word “woman,” and mentions nothing about them actually pulling the offensive edition.

This is a sad day for the industry.

Show the 'Torso Edition'

Deep Silver announced today that Dead Island: Riptide will be released on April 23, 2012 (and on April 26 in the rest of the world). The publisher also took this opportunity to reveal the first details about the game’s pre-order incentives and the Special Edition package:

Pre-Order Edition: This version of Dead Island: Riptide will include an exclusive pack of weapon mods that allows even more, manifold ways to dispose of the ghastly zombie hordes on Palanai island.

Special Retailers Edition: In addition to the weapon mods this version will contain an alternate character skin not obtainable anywhere else! The Special Edition of Dead Island: Riptide will only be available at selected retail partners. Details about the retail partners per territory offering the Special Edition will be announced soon. The Special Retailers Edition will also feature an alternative packshot.

Dead Island: Riptide is in development at Techland (creators of the original Dead Island) for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Well, that was depressing.

Deep Silver’s sequel to Dead Island, Dead Island: Riptide, is scheduled to be out sometime in 2013. Until then, get super bummed out from this trailer, and the premise of the game:

Furious monsoon rainstorms have laid waste to the island of Palanai in the Banoi archipelago, waters have risen and caused a flood disaster — because of this and the raging zombie invasion, a rescue mission for the survivors seems to be without prospect of success. All hope seems to have been lost for the surviving humans…

Whatever. Zombies!