All articles tagged with #multiplayer
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy told Bloomberg (via IGN) that GTA 6’s multiplayer could launch in 2027, following a single-player release in November 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S (PC edition later); Rockstar has not confirmed multiplayer, but Clancy says talks have occurred, and the online mode is expected to spur a big Twitch viewership surge as creators stream the game.
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy says GTA Online 2 won’t launch until after Grand Theft Auto VI, likely arriving in 2027 after meetings with Rockstar, with Take-Two confirming GTA Online will be supported post-launch of GTA VI.
Kotaku reports Sony sent a cease-release letter to the creators of a fan-made Last of Us Part II multiplayer mod, blocking its release after months of development. The project, led by Speclizer, had aimed for a September launch but was halted amid the intervention, with speculation that monetizing access (via Patreon) may have triggered the move. Naughty Dog canceled its official Last of Us Online multiplayer in 2023, and while the original Factions multiplayer exists in a PS4 remaster, fan efforts to modernize Part II’s multiplayer have been shut down. The studio has previously hinted at a future game in the series.
Amazon Luna introduces Remote Play, allowing up to seven invited players to join a host’s cloud gaming session (guests don’t need Prime, only Luna via web or TV app). The update also adds two multiplayer games—King of Tokyo (digital) and It’s Quiz Time: Guinness World Records—with Bowling Mayhem and Cranium Planet following later in September. Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora join Luna Standard as single‑player titles. The move comes as cloud gaming faces headwinds like Xbox’s 15‑hour monthly cap on Game Pass cloud, potentially boosting Luna’s appeal for Prime subscribers.
Bandai Namco unveils Ace Combat Online for Ace Combat 8 — a live-service companion featuring PvE and PvPvE modes, 4v4 and eight-player battles, a social hub to hang out with arcade machines and a jukebox, limited-time missions, and a two-month battle-pass that unlocks new aircraft and cosmetics to incentivize long-term play.
Nintendo Switch 2 owners get a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 4.0.0 update with higher resolution, shorter load times, and 5–8 player multiplayer. You can connect up to seven controllers (eight players require a Joy-Con 2 or Switch 2 Pro Controller). The patch adds CameraPlay via a USB camera (toggleable in multiplayer/online and limited to GameChat members), increases race speed by the equivalent of one coin, and lets Booster Course Pass users access 96 extra VS races.
Fuse Games' Star Wars: Galactic Racer reimagines arcade racing as a runs-based roguelite with story-driven progression and a bets-enabled multiplayer format, featuring six-event tours (Speeder Tours for 12 players and Pod Racing Tours for 8) where finishing positions determine rewards and vehicle parts drops; players can bet on outcomes, and the final showdown wraps up the run. The game launches October 6 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
State of Decay 3 will begin a closed beta playtest before the end of 2026, with registration open now. The beta, building on May’s alpha, will stress-test a larger map with untethered multiplayer and improvements to combat, lighting, SFX, weather, visuals, and character movement, with access expanding to more players over time. The game, announced in 2020, is planned for a 2027 release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, amid Microsoft’s studio restructuring and sell-offs.
State of Decay 3 will move from its alpha phase into a wider closed beta later in 2026, expanding access to more players and platforms ahead of its 2027 launch. Sign-ups at playtest.stateofdecay.com are free, and the game will be playable on Xbox Series X|S, PC, cloud, Steam, and PlayStation 5 (with Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere). The testing emphasizes a larger shared open world, untethered multiplayer for up to four players, and a permadeath system, using community feedback to fine-tune combat, visuals, and progression before release.
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.