Here’s what is happening in news of the gross.
Earlier today, publisher Deep Silver revealed a Dead Island Riptide: Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia. This collectors’ edition package includes a copy of the zombie-filled adventure game and a statue of a bloody woman’s severed torso.
Yeah, we know — that’s some major ew.
Moments ago, the developer posted an apology to Twitter:
A statement on the Zombie Bait Edition:
We deeply apologize for any offense caused by the Dead Island Riptide “Zombie Bait Edition”, the collector’s edition announced for Europe and Australia. Like many gaming companies, Deep Silver has many offices in different countries, which is why sometimes different versions of Collector’s Editions come into being for North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
For the limited run of the Zombie Bait Edition for Europe and Australia, a decision was made to include a gruesome statue of a zombie torso, which was cut up like many of our fans had done to the undead enemies in the original Dead Island.
We sincerely regret this choice. We are collecting feedback continuously from the Dead Island community, as well as the international gaming community at large, for ongoing internal meetings with Deep Silver’s entire international team today. For now, we want to reiterate to the community, fans and industry how deeply sorry we are, and that we are committed to making sure this will never happen again.
We’ve contacted Deep Silver to ask if it will cancel its plans to release the Zombie Bait Edition with the gruesome statue, but it has not responded.