Dead Island 2 released back in April 2023, and to many's surprise, it's a solid title befitting the legacy and name of the original. Expectations going into this game were all over the place, if because Dead Island 2's reported development hell was not a good indicator for its progress. Luckily, as it would turn out, the game was on the right track when it got put into Dambuster Studios' hands. The result is that, despite several high profile releases like Baldur's Gate 3, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Starfield demanding attention, many are still looking forward to Dead Island 2's confimed DLC.
WARNING: DEAD ISLAND 2 SPOILERS AHEAD
Dead Island 2 has two confirmed DLCs in development: Haus for Q4 2023 and the SOLA Festival for Q2 2024. What this means is that, barring any delays for Dead ISland 2's Haus DLC, fans can expect it to release sometime between October and December. Given that it's already September, that either means a proper reveal and release date is around the corner, or a delay is. But the actual content is exciting.
Dead Island 2 Haus Story DLC Expectations
The brief tease for Dead Island 2's Haus DLC sees some unusual figure standing in a seemingly blood-covered room, surrounded by a few zombies. The official description reads, "How does a billionaire prepare for the zompocalypse? A techno-death cult with a healthy splash of debauchery and gore!" The former would imply said billionaire is the figure, who may have used their wealth to somehow prepare for and/or take part int he zompocalypse. Their role as a billionaire may draw connections to Dead Island 2's Konradt, and some possible new lore on the Numen can't be ruled out. Chances are, they will play some antagonistic role, especially given the techno-death cult. In other words, fans can expect a new antagonist and new deadly faction, with the latter hopefully adding more options to Dead Island 2's gameplay.
As a DLC, fans can also expect new weapons and the like, but it feels unlikely to introduce a new character to play as in Dead Island 2. It's not impossible, but not a reasonable expectation. But perhaps the biggest question mark is the story implications. Since it is billed as a story DLC, some players may think they could get answers either here or in the SOLA Festival pertaining to the missing Tisha. After all, Dead Island 2's main character decides to hang back in Hell-A to look for Tisha, and that sounds like the in-game justification to get involved with a Billionaire's death cult.
However, it's probably the intiating premise and nothing more; if because there is potential for Dead Island 3 or just because there ARE two DLC, fans shouldn't expect this to wrap up the game's cliffhanger ending. Instead, it'll probably introduce its own fun story, some fun gameplay, and push the new narrative ahead incrementally, if at all.
Still, it'll be exciting to see what Dambuster Studios' approach to Dead Island 2 DLC looks like when Haus drops. Haus, or house, implies some strong story themes, and it could be something that ties the main character in with the Numen, the zombies, and Hell-A overall. Either way, Haus will also outline and set expectations for the SOLA Festival next year, but all fans can do right now is await new information.
Dead Island 2 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.