Dambuster Studios

Does Dead Island 2 have crossplay and co-op?

Dead Island 2 is already here, and there’s nothing better than killing zombies with friends. So does it have crossplay and co-op?

Update: Apr 21st, 2023 20:29 EDT

Dead Island 2 has finally made its way to stores after seven long years of development, but it’s looking like it was worth the wait. And with so much content and several characters to choose from, the game seems tailormade to be played with friends. After all, who doesn’t like bashing zombies with crazy weapons in the company of friends? So now the question is: can you play in co-op? And does it have crossplay between platforms?

Does Dead Island 2 have co-op?

Well good news for everyone planning on joining some friends to play: yes, you can play through the entire story with up to two other players. However, you won’t be able to do so immediately after starting the game: you need to unlock the Co-op mode while playing the story.

During the main story quest called “Call the Cavalry”, which you’ll find after barely an hour of starting a new game depending on how you play, Co-op becomes available to join or invite friends, or to play online with random people. After this point you are free to join any other players, but there’s some things you need to take into account:

In Co-op mode you cannot pause the game. All menu and inventory management takes place in real time, unlike in single player.
Only three players can join into a single session.
The story progression of each session is locked to the player with the least progression. That means that if you’re 12 missions into the story, but your friend is only 4 missions in, you’ll only be able to play as if you were also on that mission.
Progress carries over to single player, including inventory items.