Update: Dead Rising 2 is now available through Steam, so unless you’ve purchased it through the Epic Games Store, you’re free to purchase it as you would any other Steam game.
Original article follows…
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. Confusing? Don’t worry, I’ve been playing it on the Steam Deck and know what the deal is.
Dead 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. The Epic Store version of Dead Island 2 is what I’ve been playing on Steam Deck and it works really well.
My Dead Island 2 settings are able to achieve a mostly stable 40 to 45 frames per second. There will be dips, but those aren’t enough to spoil the experience. The game rights itself fairly fast.
Visually the game bangs as well. Hair is a little pointy, but that’s a general Steam Deck issue rather than an issue with the game. The gore is still nice and crunchy, and the textures come through clean.
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. If you grab the Epic version you won’t be disappointed.
If you’re interested, I’ve made a full guide to getting Dead Island 2 running on the Steam Deck. And yeah, there are pictures. Plenty of them. It’s easier that way.
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. I did try several other versions of Proton, but GE-Proton7-42 turned out to be the most stable and reliable. That could change as newer versions of Proton are released, but right now, stick with that one and you won’t go wrong.
