Typing of the Dead: Overkill was almost never released

When passion and a bizarre zombie game collide

To pretty much everyone’s surprise, Sega released The Typing of the Dead: Overkill just in time for Halloween. In this sequel of sorts to the infamous Typing of the Dead for the Sega Dreamcast and Arcade, players must put their reflexes and typing skills to test as they fight off zombies with keystrokes. While fans of the series were delighted to have this game happen at all, this particular title almost never saw the light of day.

In an article from Gamasutra, Ollie Clarke, the founder of Modern Dream, opened up about the trials and tribulations they faced as developers when their studio faced closure. The closure meant the end of the title, but in a last-minute deal with Sega, they just jumped on the chance to finish work on the game in just under six weeks while cramped in Clarke’s apartment. “It’s a credit to the original and how much of a following it still has, that in this day and age when a game can fall from view so quickly, this is exploding,” says Ollie Clarke. “And no one who has been buying this game knows just how hard it was to get it released.”

It’s a very heartfelt and inspiring story, and well worth the read. In just a short amount of time, they managed to reconfigure the original game into what it is now, and ported the PS3 release of The House of the Dead: Overkill as an extra. Incredible! You often hear about the struggles that developers face when making games, but this particular situation is most unusual and shows that passion and dedication to the craft can pay off. 

The Typing of the Dead: Overkill is out now on Steam, and in case anyone who indulged in the Halloween discount feels guilty, you can always buy it again and gift the game to a friend.

How Typing of the Dead: Overkill survived its studio’s apocalypse [Gamasutra]