You can pick up Dead Island: Riptide free to celebrate Dead Island 2's inevitable hop to Steam

A zombie screaming on the beach at sunset
(Image credit: Deep Silver)

Here's my toxic trait: I get annoyed when games aren't on Steam. Not for any principled reason, not because I love my Steam Deck (though I do), and not even because Steam—per our own ranking of the PC's many launchers—is the best client of the bunch. I just don't like my collection being scattered all over various clients. It feels like having all your games on one shelf in your living room but being compelled, by some mysterious force, to occasionally go and put some of them on a different shelf upstairs. It's not right, it's unnatural, and I shan't have it.

Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh, right, I mention this because Dead Island 2—last year's underwhelming zombie-basher that's been hitherto Epic-only—is making the inevitable jump to Steam on April 22. You guessed it: that's one year and one day after it came out on the Epic Games Store. If you close your eyes, you can visualise with almost crystal clarity the terms on the contract Deep Silver signed with Epic.

To celebrate the jump, you can pick up Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition for free over on Steam until Thursday, February 15, and Dead Island Retro Revenge is 75% off until the 20th. So even if you're not gonna pick up the second game, you might as well grab the free—and generally positively received—Riptide for free.

I'm always glad to see more games come to more platforms, but you might wanna wait for a Steam sale before you pick Dead Island 2 up. Lewis Parker gave the game 55% in our Dead Island 2 review, writing that "Apart from the admittedly impressive technical performance, it's hard to find much reason to recommend Dead Island 2," and that "Although the combat feels responsive and intuitive, it sadly does little to compensate for the game's numerous shortfalls – especially when said gameplay barely evolves throughout the game's twenty hour campaign." 

Perhaps Dead Island 3 will nail it? Given that 2 took a decade to make, though, I guess we might be waiting a while.

Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Read more
Watch DOgs 2
Ubisoft's grudging crawlback to Steam continues with achievements for Watch Dogs 2 added a mere 9 years after release
In-game recreation of iconic Indiana Jones stealing the idol in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Silent Hill 2 remake and Indiana Jones are at historically low prices this Steam Spring Sale—so long as you don't buy them directly from Steam
World of Goo 2 a giant octopus-worm spits out a structure of goo upon which other goo is flowing.
After launching as an Epic Store exclusive, World of Goo 2 dribbles onto Steam this spring: 'We’re grateful to Epic for funding development of the game'
Best Free Steam Games - Marvel Rivals - Black Widow aims down a sniper scope.
The best free games on Steam
Hades
The best games on Steam in 2025
A screenshot from Cabernet showing a vampiric woman sucking blood from a victim
Five new Steam games you probably missed (February 24, 2025)
Latest in RPG
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
Ciri in The Witcher 4
The Witcher 4 won't be out until sometime in 2027 at the soonest, CD Projekt says
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 characters with their bodies replaced by skeletons, thanks to the KCD2 Skeleton mod.
Here's that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 mod that turns everyone into skeletons you asked for
Latest in News
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Ogryn
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide adds a psychic horde murderzone mode and makes Ogryns even smashier
A woman wearing a VR headset with dramatic, colourful lighting across the background
'World’s smallest LEDs' could lead to accurately lit screens with 127,000 pixels per inch and much more immersive VR