Dead Island 2 Director Now Working on Horizon: Zero Dawn

The former director of Dead Island 2, Bernd Diemer, has joined Killzone studio Guerrilla Games to work on its next title, Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Diemer, who has previously worked at Crytek and, more recently, Yager Development, announced the move on Twitter. He did not specify what his role will be at the studio or on the project.

Horizon: Zero Dawn was debuted during Sony's E3 2015 press conference, where it was confirmed for release in 2016 exclusively for PlayStation 4. It puts players in the shoes of a female archer called Aloy, who hunts animal and robot hybrids and fights for survival.

Dead Island 2 was in development at Yager, the studio behind Spec Ops: The Line. In July, 2015, however, publisher Deep Silver announced it had parted ways with the studio.

"With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve," Deep Silver said in a statement. "After careful consideration, today we announce the decision to part ways with development partner Yager."

Deep Silver also indicated it would continue with development of the sequel: "We will continue working towards bringing our vision of Dead Island 2 to life, and we will share further information at a later stage."

Yager's managing director, Timo Ullmann, later explained the split by saying the project "fell out of alignment."

"Our team is made of the best creative minds and tech specialists, who all share a common identity. The team worked with enthusiasm to take Dead Island 2 to a new level of quality," he said.

"However, Yager and Deep Silver's respective visions of the project fell out of alignment, which led to the decision that has been made."

Yager is currently working on Dreadnought, a flight combat simulator set to be published by Grey Box. Ulmann previously said the studio will "focus current efforts on Dreadnought", along with "new projects."