Played from a third-person perspective, the game takes place months after its predecessor in Washington D.C., in which a civil war between survivors and villainous bands of marauders breaks out. In the game, players can cooperate with each other to complete objectives. The game will also feature raids, which can be completed by up to players.
The game is currently being worked on by Massive Entertainment. Evaluating the feedback from players regarding the first game, Massive planned to include more game content at launch and improve the endgame. The game's endgame development was prioritized by Massive after hearing players' complaints the first game.

The game was officially announced on March by Ubisoft, with the first gameplay footage being premiered at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June In the Expo, Ubisoft confirmed that the game will be released on Marchfor Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Xbox One. A beta is set to be released prior to the game's launch. After the game's release, three episodes of downloadable content, which add new story content and gameplay modes, will be released for all players for free.