Dead Island 2 is on Xbox Game Pass

A stealthy drop

Microsoft already announced the next wave of Xbox Game Pass games earlier this week with titles such as Tales of Arise and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, but it seems to have kept a hidden ace up its sleeve: Dead Island 2 has been added to the library as well, according to the game’s page on the Microsoft store.

Launched in 2023 as a sequel to 2011’s Dead Island after a troubled development cycle, the title was announced all the way back in 2014. Issues with the development included two changes of the responsible studio. Despite these problems, Dead Island 2 managed to sell two million units in under two weeks.

Dead Island 2 has been shadow-dropped on Xbox Game Pass / Dambuster Studios

This commercial success has earned the game and its developer, Deep Silver’s Dambuster Studios, praise from their ultimate parent company, Embracer Group. The Swedish company lauded Dead Island 2 and Remnant 2 as successful releases in the last earnings report from 2023.

Dead Island 2 is sitting on a score of 75/100 on Metacritic, though our own review of the title was not as flattering, comparing it unfavorably to the original game in pretty much every aspect: “After a decade of troubled development, Dead Island 2 fails to offer anything new or substantive. Its middling melee combat, nonsensical story, and awkward dialogue choices all make playing it a slog, and even at its very best, it fails to rise above being merely inoffensive. It may be pretty, but that's not enough to save it from being a dull experience from start to finish.”

Microsoft possibly intended for this stealthy Game Pass drop to act as an olive branch to the part of the Xbox community that’s been enraged by the company’s decision to bring Pentiment and Grounded to Nintendo Switch as well as Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves to PS5.

If you’re diving into the zombie game with your subscription, you should check out our Dead Island 2 tips and tricks.

Best starting character in Dead Island 2