If you want to disable Epic Online Services for Dead Island 2 on Steam which launches sneakily in the background This article will show you how to disable it. However, if you aren't really phased by it and just want to fix error - "Epic Online Services could not be found. Please verify the installation on your game client and launch Dead Island to retry. The game will now close." You'll also find a solution.

Takeaways:

  1. How to Disable Epic Online Services in Dead Island 2.
  2. How to Fix Dead Island 2 Error - Epic Games Online Services Could Not be Found.

How to Disable Epic Online Services in Dead Island 2.

To disable the ridiculous Epic Online Services component that comes in Dead Island 2 you'll need to do the following. I'm not sure how long this workaround will work but for now, it does.

  • Go to: "X:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Dead Island 2" and delete the EpicOnlineServices folder. (X being the folder you have your games installed)
  • Then open the "DeadIsland.ini" file in Notepad and modify the "NoOperation=0" to "NoOperation=1"
  • This will help you avoid running Epic's malware that pulls data about you.

Note: When you launch the game it will still bootstrap run EpicOnlineServices. If you run Netlimiter or such you can block the network traffic though.

How to Fix - Epic Online Services could not be found.

At this point in time, this error is caused because the Epic Online Services installation component inside of Dead Island 2 is out of date. So you basically need to update the installation to get the game working. It's a stupid mistake they should patch out soon enough but for now here's the fix.

  • Press the Start button.
  • Type in "Settings" and open the Settings app.
  • Go to Apps on the left sidebar, then click on Installed Apps.
  • Search for "Epic Online Services" (version 2040, outdated).
  • Click the three dots next to it and choose Uninstall.

Note: If you're using Windows 10 or another system, you may need to go to Control Panel > Programs and Features and repeat the steps to uninstall.

  • Confirm the uninstallation process.

Epic Games Launcher Update Method.

  • Open a new file browser.
  • Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Extras.
  • Find the EOS (Epic Online Services) installer.
  • Run the installer and wait for the installation to complete.

If you Have Any Problems Try This Instead.

  • No Epic Games Launcher Installed
  • Unfortunately, it seems you might need to install the Epic Games Launcher to fix this issue. You can download it from Epic Games' official website
  • After installation, launch the Epic Games Launcher, sign in, and it should update the Epic Online Services automatically.
  • If needed, manually run the EOS installer at C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Extras\EOS.

More than likely Dead Island 2 will have these problems patched out of them in the near future however until that happens these are the only known methods to get around this annoying issue. Funnily enough, it's the main reason that the game has bad reviews over on Steam and rightly so!