All articles tagged with #multiplayer
An unnamed indie game from Studio BitDot/Nano Neighbors teases a 5,000,000-piece haystack with a single needle, pitched as either a meditative task or a stressful challenge, with a Steam page expected and hints at multiplayer support.
Halo: Campaign Evolved sold about 1.2M copies in two weeks across Steam, PS5 and Xbox, with roughly 2.1M players on Game Pass; its lack of multiplayer and a higher price compared with the multiplayer-enabled Master Chief Collection helped the Call of Duty: Black Ops ports outsell it by a large margin (roughly 16-to-1), and analysts say a PS5 MCC-style release with multiplayer could have driven far stronger sales.
With E-Day's beta wrapped, players debate whether the new movement—jumping, sliding, and wall-bouncing between waist-high cover—improves Gears of War's pace or makes the game feel gimmicky, sparking a renewed split among fans about how the series should evolve.
Indie studio House House’s co-op puzzle game Big Walk has sold over 1 million copies in six days, a milestone for publisher Panic. The game emphasizes in-game communication (proximity chat and non-verbal emotes) for 2–12 players and is available on PS5, Switch 2, and PC, with early praise for its shared journey and puzzle-solving fun.
The Gears of War: E-Day multiplayer beta drew a sizable crowd during its limited-access early weekend, earning a top-10 Xbox Top 40 rank and signaling strong launch potential. The full open beta begins August 13, 2026 for all Xbox players, with PC Game Pass subscribers and pre-orders eligible to join earlier; full achievements land on October 6, 2026 as the game eyes a major release later this year.
SteamDB shows Gears of War: E-Day’s open beta reaching 14,331 peak concurrent players, a new series record; unlike prior Steam entries, the original trilogy and Gears 4 aren’t on Steam and Gears 5 launched through different storefronts, so counts may be inflated by platform differences. The beta adds PvP and Horde mode and will be freely playable next week, with further weekend uptake expected.
PlayStation Plus is adding the 93/100-rated PS5 multiplayer adventure Big Walk to its lineup on launch day. Developed by House House, it’s a cooperative, communication‑driven game that emphasizes teamwork. The title is free for PS Plus Essential subscribers (across all tiers), and players should add it to their library to retain access after lineup changes, with the game praised as a fun, rewarding multiplayer experience.
Big Walk, a multiplayer-only title from House House, tasks 2–12 players with navigating a bright, open world to solve group puzzles and collect beans that unlock new features. The game Reward hinges on teamwork and communication, often producing hilarious missteps (lost walkie-talkies, wrong directions) that are endured and celebrated together rather than solo cleverness. Its design intentionally forces cooperation, making the experience feel like a vast, shared adventure where you’re small in a big world—fun despite, or because of, the chaos. The need to play with friends can be a barrier, but when a group does sync up, it’s a uniquely joyous co-op challenge.
Luckshot Games’ 2026 platformer Big Hops is getting a free eight-player online co-op mode called the Together update, launching August 9 on Steam after a major rewrite to support multiplayer; a Together beta is already live on Steam for testing.
Gears of War: E-Day features a ground-up gameplay rebuild that tightens movement and introduces a refreshed Horde Siege mode for up to 12 players across larger maps, plus a classic 4v4 Versus suite. The Coalition emphasizes PvE and PvP improvements, with several Horde variants (Blitz, Siege, Classic Horde) and new objectives that reward team coordination. An open beta begins next month ahead of the October 6 launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC, with early access from October 1 for Premium or Collector’s editions.
A hands-on preview of Gears of War: E-Day showcases a Helldivers 2–inspired Horde Siege: a 12-player PvE mode played across a sprawling city with shiftable zones, optional objectives, and a final evac by helicopter. The game also reworks movement and offers updated Versus modes, including Team Deathmatch and a Conquest-like mode that emphasizes dynamic objectives and map control. Overall, the new multiplayer additions aim to feel fresh and could keep players returning long after the campaign.
Sega is hosting a closed network test for Crazy Taxi: World Tour across PC (Steam/Xbox app), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S from Sept 11–13 to stress test online multiplayer. Sign-ups run through Aug 31 and are limited to a listed set of regions; the test features two modes (Pickup Race and Cops N Cabbies), two maps, six cars, four characters, and supports ranked play and custom lobbies, with no single-player content available in this test.
MW4 will run an open beta on Nintendo Switch 2 from Aug 28 to Sept 1, following an earlier preorder beta on PS5/Xbox/PC; Switch 2 reservations begin Aug 26. The beta features multiple maps, new Operators (including Vault Edition for preorders), up to 19 weapons, and modes spanning 3v3 skirmishes to large-scale battles with tanks, plus Kill Block and a Training Mobility Course. Call of Duty: Next airs on Aug 21 with live gameplay and more ahead of MW4’s Oct 23, 2026 launch.
Kotaku previews Dear Passengers, a chaotic co-op airline crew game from FLEXUS, coming to Steam later in 2026, where one player pilots while others manage cabin duties and confront chaotic hazards in a bid to become the next big 'friendslop' sensation.
Buckshot Roulette, a indie horror title by Mike Klubnika and Critical Reflex, has unexpectedly dropped on Xbox Game Pass, bringing its tense Russian roulette showdown to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Game Pass tiers, with both a short single-player experience and a multiplayer mode for up to four players after earlier launches on itch.io (Dec 2023) and Steam (Apr 2024).