I can say with about 99% certainty that there will not be a Dead State 2. I'd even strongly reconsider using a real world setting again, since press and even players strongly equate RPGS with fantasy/sci-fi settings. Trying to get exposure for this game from the majority of the gaming press has been one of the most frustrating experiences of my career. I don't think Dead State is perfect by any means (I think most RPGs have flaws and frustrations as a result of trying to do everything), and I realize it's not the prettiest game out there, but I suspect it would have been a lot easier to market our first game had it been a fantasy-based RPG that took fewer risks. I know "zombies" are a tired concept for many, but it's not like press have stopped covering the latest zombies shooters and zombie movies, it's just that our setting as an RPG never clicked with them - that or they see "RPG" tacked onto every game with stats and figured we were more about "level 12 shotguns" than character conflict.
I'm really glad that some of the players who played Dead State loved it and that it reminded them of games they remember fondly. We love making RPGs, and chances are we will get the urge to do another one, one of these days - there's no shortage of ideas there. When we set out the plan for the company, however, we definitely did not want to be just "an RPG company". When games of your banner genre take years to make, that strategy only works when you're making mega-hits and sequels to those hits. We started an indie company specifically to work on whatever games we felt like making - RPGS, action games, adventure hybrids, short-term lab experiments that may go nowhere. As a matter of course, I'd say it's a pretty common feeling amongst RPG developers to want to try something different in tone or gameplay after years on a single RPG. And, as I mentioned above, sometimes the marketplace has a hand in the structure of our game, because it really comes down to making enough money to continue on as a company. After so many years on Dead State, I am so looking forward to working on something new - hopefully it resonates with a larger population of gamers, but regardless, it will be a game we want to make. As a game developer, pretty much all you can do at the end of a project, success or not, is press on with the next project and try to do a better job than the last.
but maybe you're just in the early areas with just a few easily avoided/backstabbed ones.
