Friends are only permitted in Dead Island 2 if you have a PS5 or Xbox Series X

techradar.com:

Those playing Dead Island 2 on last-gen consoles will be sorely disappointed as they cannot host multiplayer sessions. 

Dambuster Studios has thrown a spanner in the works for those gearing up to play Dead Island 2 on their PS4 or Xbox One. Thanks to restrictions caused by the zombie shooter’s graphic requirements, only those with more recent consoles will be able to host two or more players on their server.

In a recent blog post(opens in new tab), Dambuster Studios said, “The host must play on the latest generation console (PS5 / Xbox Series X|S) or one of the Generation 8+ consoles (PS4 Pro/Xbox One X)”. PC gamers are unaffected by this and can co-op on other PC sessions as they see fit. 

This is obviously less than ideal for many players, but thankfully it won’t affect multiplayer story progression too badly, as long as you know someone with a next-gen console. Progress and achievements will be saved regardless if you’re a host or a client. 

“If you jump into co-op and play the game up until the sixth story mission and end your session, when you come back to play — either in single player or co-op — you will pick up from the sixth mission with all your items, stats etc.," Dambuster Studios said.

While players can play missions, they have already completed with friends, they won’t be able to skip forward in and play sections they have yet to come across in either singleplayer or multiplayer sessions. There really is no cheating Dead Island 2, as Dambuster wants you to experience every gory detail of this zombocalypseto ensure players won’t «miss out on important story beats, levelling up, items etc.». 

The prospect of entering Hell-A alone isn’t a comforting one. For all of Dead Island 2’s faults, the multiplayer can