As online multiplayer takes over the triple-A gaming space through the proliferation of endless live-service games, I’ve been sorely missing local co-op. While there are plenty of games you can sit down and play with other people, like Overcooked and It Takes Two, there just aren’t that many narrative experiences being made explicitly for couch-style cooperation. Very few studios are interested in specialising in that type of game.
Hazelight Studios is leading the way. When you look up local co-op games, It Takes Two and A Way Out are in the first row of results. Both games tell a focused, limited story, with puzzles built around two-player cooperation and communication. You can’t complete them without another person. I wish we saw games like this – there’s nothing like playing through a story with another person, knowing they’re integral to the experience and being able to share it exclusively with them.
The Game Awards Was, Predictably, Full Of Multiplayer
This year’s The Game Awards gave us plenty of multiplayer games, as usual. We saw announcements for Thick As Thieves, Warren Spector’s PvPvE return to the immersive sim genre. The developers of Sifu unveiled a 5v5 soccer game called Rematch. The Elden Ring spin-off, Nightreign, is a co-op game that lets you fight fan-favourite bosses from Dark Souls and Bloodborne alongside friends, though it remains to be seen if it has a narrative or is solely an action game.
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Of course, Borderlands 4 will be a co-op like all previous entries, but it’s not a game that centers around couch co-op. There’s Squid Game Unleashed, a painfully ironic battle royale game. There’s a Game of Thrones MMORPG that looks pretty mid. Den of Wolves, a new game from the creators of Payday, is launching in early access next year. And Midnight Murder Club is a multiplayer FPS with a demo available now.
But to my surprise, there were two games that were designed for two player co-op that told specific stories announced at the show. One was Split Fiction, which we knew would be showing up. As a Hazelight Studios game, it follows the template that the studio has set for itself: two complicated characters, each with their own desires and agendas, are forced to work together to achieve a specific goal. This one is pretty cool in that it alternates between sci-fi and fantasy, leaning into genre in a way the more realistic settings of It Takes Two and A Way Out didn’t allow. You can read our own Eric Switzer’s preview here.
Another was Stage Fright, which I did not expect at all. From Ghost Town Games, the creators of Overcooked, Stage Fright tells a coming-of-age story through the perspectives of children, filled with “Overcooked-style chaotic moments and escape room-esque co-operation”. We haven’t seen quite as much of this game yet, but I expect it to be frantic and wholesome, perhaps less adult than Split Fiction, but just as fun.
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Two Games Do Not Make A Trend
Yeah, fine, these are two games from studios known for making co-op games. But Ghost Town’s pivot in particular is very interesting – after all, nobody was playing Overcooked for the story, but Stage Fright seems to be attempting to focus more on narrative this time round.
I think it shows us that studios are recognising there’s a real hunger for narrative-driven couch co-op experiences. After all, It Takes Two has sold a mind-boggling 20 million copies. People want these kinds of games, and the industry isn’t providing, but maybe we’re starting to see the tide shift. There’s clearly untapped potential in this niche, and studios known for co-op are rising to fill it. Maybe other studios will start trying to reach this demographic too.
