Dying Light 2 co-op: How to play with online with friends

It's always nice to have someone watching your back.

Dying Light 2 has quickly become one of the most popular zombie games available due to its excellent gameplay mechanics and its detailed, activity-filled open world. As fun as the game is to play by yourself, though, we believe you'll have an even better time if you play with your friends (you can also play with random players online, as well).

Unfortunately, Dying Light 2 never outright explains how co-op play works, leaving many players unsure of how to engage with the game's multiplayer component. If that's you, don't worry — we're here with a quick guide that explains how to start a co-op session with your friends. In addition, we'll also go over how co-op play works and what you need to know about how things like loot drops, dialogue options, and quest progression work while playing online.

How to play Dying Light 2 co-op

Thankfully, playing Dying Light 2 co-op with your friends is simple. Here's how to do it:

1. In-game, press the Esc key (PC) or the Start button (Xbox and PlayStation).

2. Select Online Menu.

3. Select Online Options.

4. Change your multiplayer setting from Singleplayer to Public, Friends Only, or Private (invite only).

Depending on the setting you choose, your friends will now be able to see your name in the Online Menu while you're playing and join your session. You can also see their names in the Online Menu as well, and from there, you can either send them game invites or join their sessions. If you select the Public setting, all Dying Light 2 players will be able to join your game at any time. The Friends Only setting makes it so that only people on your friends list can join your game, while the Private setting requires you to send invites to anyone who wants to join.

How to unlock Dying Light 2 co-op

Co-op play is unfortunately not available at the start of Dying Light 2's campaign, but thankfully, it doesn't take too long to unlock it either. The game has a two-hour long intro and tutorial that leads you into the game's primary setting, the city of Villedor. Once there, you'll soon get a quest called Markers of Plague. Once you complete that quest, co-op play will unlock and be available.

How does Dying Light 2 co-op work?

In Dying Light 2, up to four players can play co-op together (three players and one host). During co-op play, each player is free to roam Villedor as they see fit, though it's important to note that everyone has to stay relatively close to the host during quests (the host can teleport players to them if they wish). Notably, quests don't progress for anyone other than the host, so if you have a quest you'd like to complete with your friends, it has to be in your game session. In situations where quests feature dialogue options with NPCs, each co-op player can vote for which option they'd like to select, though the host has the power to override the votes.

Loot drops and the contents of searchable containers are localized for each player, meaning that you don't need to fight amongst yourselves over crafting materials, consumables, or gear. Players connected to the host's game get to keep everything they earned or found while playing in co-op — including XP — permanently. This makes it one of the best multiplayer games for Xbox available right now, as many other co-op games don't let people connected to the host keep the loot or XP they accumulate while helping their friends. However, this does go both ways, meaning that if you use or lose items while playing in a friend's game session, they'll be gone when you return to singleplayer as well.

Each player in co-op enters a downed state when their health falls to zero, at which point another player needs to revive them in 20 seconds or they'll die. Players can be revived three times; the next time their health is depleted after that, they'll die instantly and will respawn in the nearest safe area (locations with a bed and a large UV lamp).

Stay alive in a dying world

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

$60 at Microsoft (Xbox)$60 at Amazon (Xbox & PlayStation)

Will you survive?

Dying Light 2 features a large open world with a satisfying risk-reward gameplay loop and plenty of gear and upgrades to find as you parkour your way over and around hordes of infected monstrosities.