The development of Dead Island 2 has been plagued with studio swaps, delays, and plenty of problems, but the game has finally seen the light of day. That could change as newer versions of Proton are released, but right now, stick with that one and you won’t go wrong.Seven years. I did try several other versions of Proton, but GE-Proton7-42 turned out to be the most stable and reliable.

The guide goes through it all in detail, but you essentially want to install the Heroic Games Launcher, use it to download Dead Island 2, then run the game with GE-Proton7-42. If you’re interested, I’ve made a full guide to getting Dead Island 2 running on the Steam Deck. If you grab the Epic version you won’t be disappointed. Normally with these kinds of situations I’d say wait for the Steam release, but the Epic version runs so good I don’t think it’s worth waiting. The gore is still nice and crunchy, and the textures come through clean. Hair is a little pointy, but that’s a general Steam Deck issue rather than an issue with the game. There will be dips, but those aren’t enough to spoil the experience. My Dead Island 2 settings are able to achieve a mostly stable 40 to 45 frames per second. The Epic Store version of Dead Island 2 is what I’ve been playing on Steam Deck and it works really well. Confusing? Don’t worry, I’ve been playing it on the Steam Deck and know what the deal is.ĭead Island 2 isn’t currently available to purchase on Steam, but you can grab it from the Epic Games Store for $69.99/£54.99. Is Dead Island 2 on Steam Deck? Yes, you can play Dead Island 2 on Steam Deck, but you can’t get it through the normal means of the Steam Store.

Steam dead island 2