Does Dead Island 2 have multiplayer?

Dead Island 2, the highly anticipated sequel to Techland’s post-apocalyptic zombie action game, is set to release this week. After being stuck in development limbo since it was first announced in 2014, we’re finally ready to test our survival skills in the zombie-infested cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The original Dead Island offered the ability to team up online with up to four players to try and survive the zombie-infested island. With Dead Island 2 coming soon, you may be wondering if the sequel offers the same capability.

Does Dead Island 2 have multiplayer?

Dambuster has confirmed that Dead Island 2 will support multiplayer. According to the game’s FAQ, Dead Island 2 will have a co-op story mode that can be played with up to three players. Additionally, the developer details:

"As a proper RPG experience, Dead Island 2 offers plenty of exciting quests, a crazy cast of characters, and a thrilling pulp story, to truly immerse you in its twisted universe. Re-playability is guaranteed. Add an over-the-top co-op mode for up to three players, and you’ll stay in LA for a very long (and gory) trip."

However, it should be noted that Dead Island 2 will not support cross-play. This means someone on Xbox can not play with someone on PlayStation. So if you’ve got a group of friends that you want to play Dead Island 2 together, make sure you all get it on the same platform. There’s also no split-screen co-op offered, so you’ll need to all play online together (and each buy a game). Dead Island 2 is available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC.

Accessing co-op should be a pretty straightforward option. You should be able to just join a game from the main menu using random matchmaking, or invite individual friends into your respective game. While not confirmed, it’s likely that only the hosting player’s campaign progress will be saved, although it’s possible that any weapons or loot you find can be carried back to your game. If it’s drop-in/drop-out multiplayer, you’ll likely still need to progress your own story playthrough separately from the host. We’ll have more specific details when we get to go hands-on with Dead Island 2 at release.

Dead Island 2 launches on April 21, 2023. See you in Hel-LA.