Dead Island 2 multiplayer: How does co-op work & is it crossplay?
Can't you hear us YELL-A?
Having a kickabout, chatting, and slaying zombies — all perfect examples of fun group activities. If you’ve been thinking about picking up Dead Island 2 but don’t want to be put through HELL-A alone, you’re in luck. The game features online co-op multiplayer.
Before you dive straight in, though, you’ll need to know how it all works. Co-op here isn’t as straightforward as it is in some other games and does come with some requirements that are worth knowing.
Read on to discover everything there is to know about Dead Island 2 multiplayer. Here’s the lowdown on how co-op works in the game, including details on number of players, how to unlock and more, and whether there is cross-play or not.
How does co-op multiplayer work in Dead Island 2?
You can play online co-op in Dead Island 2 with two other players — the maximum group size is three players, so don't go trying to get a fourth friend into the mix.
How do you play Dead Island 2 in a multiplayer fashion? Simply head into the game’s main menu to host or join a co-op session.
Dead Island 2 co-op unlocks during the Call the Cavalry story mission, which should be around an hour into the game.
All story progress, items unlocked, and achievements/trophies earned during co-op will carry on into single-player and vice-versa. This is the case whether you hosted the co-op session or joined as a client. You can’t jump forward in the story by playing co-op.
Let’s say you reached mission number four and your friend is on mission six. You cannot join your friend for a co-op session of mission six until you too have reached that level. Your friend, though, can replay through missions four and five with you, as long as you are the host.
It’s worth making the player who’s furthest behind in the story the co-op host to avoid progress confusion.
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Does Dead Island 2 have cross-play?
Dead Island 2 does not feature cross-play. It does have cross-gen play, however. This means that PS4 and PS5 players can play together, but not Xbox Series and PS5. Check out the list below to see how Dead Island 2 cross-gen co-op works:
- PS5 and PS4 players can play together
- Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One players can play together
- PC players can play with other PC players only
It’s worth noting that the host of each co-op group must be playing on the newest generation console (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One X, or PS4 Pro). All PC players can host and join co-op sessions.
Those playing on the base PS4 or Xbox One/S cannot host co-op sessions at launch. The development team is working on adding hosting duties to all players, regardless of platform.
Read more on Dead Island 2:
- Dead Island 2 cast - full voice actors list
- Dead Island 2 trophies - all achievements to unlock
- Dead Island 2 characters - slayers' differences
- Dead Island 2 map - your regions to explore
- Dead Island 2 review - our final verdict
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Authors
Toby Saunders is a freelance writer specialising in Video Game journalism. He has a wealth of experience in the field and is published on many different websites including PCGamesN, Nintendo Life and Pocket Tactics. He has a degree in Film Studies (he gets to write about Film and TV occasionally, too).
