Dead Island is a violent game. It has players kill hundreds of zombies as they try to survive on an island overrun with them. While the game is partially made in Germany, it isn’t sold there. At least not everywhere. “It feels fucking awkward to have one of the most successful games in years and nobody in your country knows it." says Sebastian Reichert, creative producer on Dead Island: Riptide.

There’s a law in Germany which prohibits games showing violent acts against human-like characters. Since zombies are walking human bodies, they fall in that category. And because they do, the game isn’t sold there. What confuses Reichert is why Gears of War 3 is allowed to be sold while his game isn’t. “I mean, [the enemies in Gears of War] are human-like,” says Reichert. “and the things you do to them... ah, they really have nice finishers! That flamethrower finisher, he rams the flamethrower into the body, pulls the trigger and the flames come out of every body part. That's in stores."

While Germans can’t buy the game in stores, Reichert hopes they have gotten their hands on it some other way and hope they do the same for the upcoming Dead Island: Riptide. The game will take place on an island in the Banio archipelago where Sam B, one of the heroes in the original game, has disappeared on while shooting a music video - which you can see here.

Oh and some new screenshots.