While taking on a horde of zombies in Dying Light 2 is fun solo, you can also enjoy the game cooperatively. You can play through nearly the entire game with friends (or strangers), making it much easier to survive. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t do the best job of explaining how this works. Here’s everything you need to know about co-op in Dying Light 2, along with multiplayer progression and cross-play functionality.
Dying Light 2 co-op requirements
Before being able to access Dying Light 2’s online functionality, you need to complete the prologue section first. You’ll know the prologue is over once you can freely roam the Bazaar, after your grisly introduction to Hakon. It’ll likely take you around two hours to get past this section.
After this point, you can open up the game’s Online Menu from the pause screen to access the multiplayer mode.
In terms of progression, any items you collect within a co-op match — whether you’re the host or not — will carry over to your save. Quest progress, on the other hand, is only tied to the host’s save, meaning you won’t retain the same progression when you go back to your own game. As for narrative decisions, all players can vote on choices, but the host has the final say.
How to play with friends in Dying Light 2
From the Online Menu, the main thing you want to change is your Game Type. Go into the Online Options screen and change your Game Type to either Friends Only, Public, or Private, depending on what you’d like to do. If you want to keep it strictly to offline play, change it back to Single Player.
Within this menu is also the option to adjust the frequency at which you search for other sessions. Play around with this to suit your gameplay needs.
Then, back out to the Online Menu, and you’ll now see three additional slots for other players. You can press Square (PlayStation) or X (Xbox) to invite a player to your game. Doing so will bring up your friends list on the platform you’re on, so go ahead and invite the players of your choice.
On their end, all they have to do is accept the invite and they’ll be placed in your lobby.
How to play with strangers in Dying Light 2
You can also try your luck with strangers in Dying Light 2. Make sure your Game Type is set to Public, and then from the Online Menu screen, press down on the D-pad to send a Distress Call. This will alert other random players that you’re looking for help. Wait a little while and your lobby should fill up.
To join random games, navigate to the Find Games option and you’ll see a list of players you can join (presumably with a stable connection). From this screen, you’ll see which difficulty the player is on, along with their region within the game, the quest they’re on, their level, and what their city alignment is.
By selecting the Quick Join option, you’ll be thrown into a random game. This is perfect for players who have no preference in terms of difficulty or quest.
Is there Dying Light 2 cross-play?
Dying Light 2 does not support cross-play, at least not at launch. It’s unclear Techland plans to add full cross-play, but the developer is working on the ability to play within the same family of systems, such as PS4 and PS5, according to Lead Designer Tymon Smektala. For now, you’ll have to stick with players on the same platform if you want to enjoy some zombie co-op goodness.
