PLAION: Dead Island 2 NG+ & NHW DLC Content

Sophomore slaughter!

All good things must come to an end, and our partnership with PLAION on the Dead Island 2 IP, which began in 2022, was set to wrap with the game’s final content updates. But we had no intention of going out with a scared, meek whimper. This was our final chance to prove just how big, badass, and bloody our content can be for the king of zombie-slaying games.

In the run up to the one year anniversary of the game, PLAION and Dambuster Studios had some surprises in store for their devoted and passionate fans. Since the game was released, they had been clamouring for New Game+, and Dambuster was about to deliver this. On top of that, the team at Fishlabs had collaborated with Dambuster to produce a brand new co-op horde mode called Neighborhood Watch. Project N were drafted in to produce content to tease, reveal, and explain both modes coming to the game.

New Game+ offers players a replay of the main story with increased difficulty, a higher level cap, and new enemies in the form of Revenant zombies. These aggressive enemies were differentiated by their red skin and chalky white markings, informing the colour palette for the campaign. We first teased New Game+ with quick-cut footage of the Revenants, layered with heavy distortion and bold, aggressive red filters to drive home how this is a brand-new mode, with a brutal new level of difficulty.

This visual identity was further explored with the static assets that revealed the skins for all six of the playable Slayers; new versions of themselves, head to toe in zombie gore and blood - it was clear to fans that this new mode was not to be taken lightly.

On top of this, we created assets for New Game+, including one in particular that was suitably… goat themed. We had to seek additional approval from the team at Coffee Stain Studios for our Goat Sim Weapon video that was a homage to the sort of chaos players could achieve in Goat Simulator, but this time in Dead Island 2 with a bright pink, goat-themed spade!

Goat Simulator wasn’t the only collaborative content we produced - we were lucky enough to bring a bit of 15th Century Bohemia to HELL-A , creating both static and video assets to announce Kingdom Come: Deliverance II weapons coming to Dead Island 2. While clearly branded as Dead Island 2 content, each piece was styled to reflect the tone and aesthetics of its sister IP.

We wrapped up the New Game+ campaign with a series of explainer videos: one that introduced the feature and outlined what players could expect, followed by a snappy “5 Reasons Why” video promoting the Ultimate Edition of the game.

Neighborhood Watch introduced new gameplay mechanics that required player onboarding, such as the bond meter, which rewarded teams for sticking together. We presented this in the form of a public emergency broadcast, warning players that going it along would lead to disaster.

For the traps used to defend the frat house in the final round of one of the horde mode matches, we created a fun instructional video inspired by a certain well-known Swedish furniture store - complete with animated illustrations to guide players on how to deploy their defences effectively.

This project was topped off with seasonal content for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas where we partnered again with renowned comic book illustrator Roberto Ricci. He brought the Slayers to life in his signature style, showing them celebrating the holidays. Our creative team then placed these illustrations into real world environments - like Polaroids stuck to fridges or scattered on a kitchen table - for a more grounded and nostalgic feel.

As we wrapped our two-year journey on this project with Plaion, we couldn’t help but reflect on how far we’d come as an agency. Project N had grown in both confidence and capability, consistently raising the bar with each new piece of content.

We extend a huge thanks to Plaion for trusting us with such a prestigious brand - and for their patience, support, and ongoing belief in our team.