After almost an entire decade trapped in development hell, Dead Island 2 finally clawed its way back to the realm of the living. Following a re-reveal back in August 2022, right after Goat Simulator 3 publicly mocked the game's presumed development status, Dead Island 2 finally made its way onto store shelves and into the public's hands on April 21, 2023, and by all accounts, it was surprisingly solid.
After nine years of fluctuating expectations, many fans expected Dead Island 2 to be a pretty bad game upon its eventual release, but to the surprise of many, it was decent. While Dead Island 2 didn't blow anyone away, and it probably won't be winning any Game Awards at the end of the year, it offered solid zombie-killing fun, with plenty of gory visuals and grotesque physics systems to keep the vast majority of players entertained for at least a few hours, and at the end of the day, that's all most fans want from the series. But if fans don't feel as though they've gotten their fill of zombie-slaying just yet, then there's some good news: Dead Island 2 is set to release two big story DLC expansions.
Dead Island 2's Haus and SOLA Festival Story Expansions Explained
In the few months since its initial release, Dead Island 2 has received two DLC packs already. The first of these DLC packs is titled the "Premium Character Packs," and includes a new outfit for each of Dead Island 2's playable characters. While players can purchase each individual character pack, those who bought the various special editions of Dead Island 2 can claim two of the outfits for free, those being the Silver Star Jacob and Cyber Slayer Amy character packs. And those who have bought the Expansion Pass will already have access to the Gaelic Queen Dani character pack.
The second DLC that came to Dead Island 2 is another cosmetic pack, this one titled the "Til Dawn" Collection. This pack includes another round of outfits for each of Dead Island 2's survivors, though the big draw here is that they don't cost any real-world cash. Available completely for free, these outfits can be claimed after finishing the "Call the Cavalry" mission, after players unlock the ability to cosplay. Opening the storage locker should give players these free skins.
On top of that, Dead Island 2 is also currently working with Prime Gaming to bring another set of alternate outfits to the game. Titled the "From Dusk" Collection, these outfits will be gradually released over the course of the year as part of Prime Gaming's rewards system. The first reward players could grab was a FOMOrian skin for Dani, along with a set of FOMOrian claws, though these will be replaced on July 13 with another character outfit.
Along with those DLCs already released and upcoming, Dead Island 2 has confirmed that two story DLCs will launch in the near future. The first of these DLCs is titled "Haus," and will reportedly revolve around a billionaire that's created his own "techno-death cult" in the wake of the apocalypse. Haus is set to be released in Q4 2023, meaning it could release anytime from about October 2023 to February 2024. The second story DLC currently announced is "SOLA Festival," which is set for a Q2 2024 release and revolves around a fake environmentally-friendly charity festival where the LA elite can rave their problems away while pretending to do something about the planet. Based on these brief descriptions, it seems as though Dead Island 2's story DLC will be just as tongue-in-cheek and satirical as the main event.
Dead Island 2 is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
