Dead Island: Epidemic is a free-to-play MOBA

Perhaps zombies are getting a little long in the tooth, but you know what's new and fresh? Dote 'em ups! (Lords Management Games, if you like. MOBAs only if you really insist.) Publisher Deep Silver today announced it's smooshing the two together in Dead Island: Epidemic, a free-to-play PC game.

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Perhaps zombies are getting a little long in the tooth, but you know what's new and fresh? Dote 'em ups! (Lords Management Games, if you like. MOBAs only if you really insist.) Publisher Deep Silver today announced it's smooshing the two together in Dead Island: Epidemic, a free-to-play PC game.

Deep Silver says it will "pit three teams of players against each other in a desperate fight for survival," and "feature all the trademark elements that are part of a Dead Island experience."

But, er, that's all we know for now. Helpful announcement. Also useless is the official site. Deep Silver promises it'll reveal more at the Gamescom show in Germany, which kicks off on August 21.

While MOBAs are generally considered top-down affairs, there's no reason this, sigh, 'ZOMBA' (Zombie Online Multiplayer Battle Arena, of course) couldn't still be first-person. Monday Night Combat took the genre to an over-the-shoulder view and Awesomenauts made it a 2D side-scroller, and it certainly should work in first-person too.

From The Chatty
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    August 7, 2013 8:30 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Dead Island: Epidemic is a free-to-play MOBA.

    Perhaps zombies are getting a little long in the tooth, but you know what's new and fresh? Dote 'em ups! (Lords Management Games, if you like. MOBAs only if you really insist.) Publisher Deep Silver today announced it's smooshing the two together in Dead Island: Epidemic, a free-to-play PC game.

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      August 7, 2013 8:31 AM

      another week, another MOBA. can't wait for the first round of massive layoffs!

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      August 7, 2013 8:47 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 7, 2013 9:11 AM

      Publishers: Hey devs. WoW made a ton of money. MMOS FOR EVERY STUDIO!
      -All other MMOs fail / go F2P after layoffs-

      Publisher: Hey devs, CoD made a ton of money. FPS Unlock MP for EVERY STUDIO!
      -Almost all fail / months of layoffs-

      Publisher: Hey devs, DOTA...

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        August 7, 2013 9:16 AM

        I'm surprised there still hasn't been a flood of MineCraft clones from the big studios.

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          August 7, 2013 11:44 AM

          It doesn't take a big studio to make a minecraft clone. The market is already flooded with them and there isn't any room left.

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          August 7, 2013 11:59 AM

          Fortnite from Epic. Minecraft meets tower defense meets multiplayer unlock FPS. It's like they wanteed to chase three fads at once.

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          August 7, 2013 5:01 PM

          Minecraft (and the various clones) don't sell at full AAA prices.

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      August 7, 2013 10:10 AM

      I'd like to take this opportunity to post a warning to game developers and publishers across the globe, 'cause a few of them must read the shack:

      Making a Lords Management Game is Hard. You might be looking at the simplistic graphics, limited collection of maps and basic AI and thinking "hey, this genre that regularly makes millions of dollars looks piss easy to enter" but there's a reson that the two most succesful examples of the genre have their teams headed by two of the original developers of the custom map.

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      August 7, 2013 4:56 PM

      I love all things Dead Island, so what the hell. I'll give it a shot.

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        August 7, 2013 4:58 PM

        But to tell you the truth, I'm still hoping for Dead World on next gen.

        In the meantime, Deep Silver's next gen zombie/parkour game looks badass. Can't recall the title at the moment...

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