Upcoming Co-Op Games We Can't Wait To Play In 2023
The stereotypical vision of video game fans paints them as antisocial weirdos spending their time in poorly lit basements, surrounded by discarded food packaging and unwashed clothes. Those stereotypes, while persistent, couldn't be further from the truth. As reported by Tech Jury, the average gamer in the United States is in their mid-30s, has kids, and owns a home. Moreover, the vast majority of people who play video games play with family and friends, as opposed to alone.
According to Unity's 2022 Multiplayer Report, 77% of gamers play multiplayer games with family, friends, or strangers, and a significant portion utilize in-game chat options to coordinate multiplayer gameplay over the internet. While you can absolutely play video games on your own if that's how you prefer to play, the video game landscape is increasingly a team sport.
It harkens back to the medium's roots, when kids spent their days slinging quarters at the arcade or huddled in front of the NES after school. To many, that's the way video games are meant to be played. There's something irreplaceable about playing together with your friends which is central to the video game experience. Whether you're a fan of online multiplayer or rubbing elbows with couch co-op, these are the games we're most looking forward to beating together in 2023.
Moving Out 2
Moving out can be one of the most stressful things we're asked to do throughout our adult lives. Packing up everything you own, stacking it all in a truck, and painstakingly transporting it across town, or across the world is a challenge even if everything goes perfectly right. We all know that things rarely go perfectly right, especially when you're moving. In the "Moving Out" franchise, developed by DevM Games and SMG Studio, things go horribly wrong in all the best ways.
One look at "Moving Out" and players will know exactly what they're in for. The art style and gameplay mechanics will be familiar to fans of other cooperative multiplayer games like "Overcooked." In terms of gameplay, it's exactly what the title suggests. You and your friends are tasked with moving all of your belongings over an evolving obstacle course on the way to your new home.
You'll move through various environments, working together to solve puzzles and complete challenges. The first entry in the "Moving Out" series offered couch co-op but had no online option. "Moving Out 2" will resolve that oversight and allow players to join forces with their friends whether they are in the same room or not (via Game Rant). "Moving Out 2" will be available on all major consoles and PC, and is expected to drop sometime in 2023.
War of the Worlds
Based on the famed and beloved H.G. Wells novel of the same name, "War of the Worlds" drops players into an alternate reality in which humanity is engaged in an all-out war for survival against a towering alien invader. You play as an ordinary civilian; not a member of the invading army or even of Earth's defense forces, just a simple human trying to make it in an increasingly dangerous universe.
The primary story mode is largely a survival game in which you must gather and craft resources while managing hunger, hydration, and more. Along the way, you'll become increasingly involved in the effort to eradicate the alien scourge for good. The co-op mode has you join with other players and take the fight straight to the aliens as you try to survive for seven days (via GamingBolt).
You'll also have an opportunity to play as an alien attempting to locate and destroy any remaining human survivors. By all accounts, "War of the Worlds" will allow you to explore the ravages of interplanetary conquest from every conceivable angle.
"War of the Worlds" is currently available via early access on Steam and is expected to have a full release sometime in 2023.
Lightyear Frontier
Developed by Framebreak, "Lightyear Frontier" promises to take the cozy gameplay of farm simulators to the final frontier. You and up to three friends will travel to an alien planet at the edge of space and be tasked with setting up a homestead there. You'll have to establish crops and build infrastructure in collaboration with your friends on an uncharted world.
You'd be forgiven if that doesn't sound like the most relaxing scenario you've ever heard of. But "Lightyear Frontier" dispenses with the more frightening aspects of space exploration and focuses on the relaxing parts of it. You will be asked to grow plants and build buildings, but you won't be asked to fight aliens or make sure you don't run out of air. According to Games Radar, there aren't any combat mechanics and you won't be asked to manage health or stamina. Instead, you'll spend time exploring and crafting with friends at the edge of space. "Lightyear Frontier" will be available on PC and Xbox and is slated for release spring of 2023 (via IGN).
Party Animals
When it comes to co-op games, there are few which are more fun to play and which have more replay value than party games. The sort of bite-sized competition that comes from competitive mini-games is perfect for casual social play between snacks or drinks. For years, "Mario Party" was the only big player in the party game space but recently other games have gotten in on the action. Recently, games like "Fall Guys," "Among Us," and even the Jackbox online party games have breathed new life into the genre. Soon, those standbys will have some new competition when Recreate Games releases their upcoming party game "Party Animals."
You can play as one of eleven adorable and violent anthropomorphic animals and you'll fight your friends for supremacy in various contests of strength, subterfuge, and sabotage. At present, the game has two game modes: Last Stand and Snatch Squad (via Final Weapon).
In Last Stand, you're one of eight players in a battle royale to be the last one standing. In Snatch Squad, you'll compete in a capture-the-flag-style game in teams of four. Your goal is to gather gummies from the center of the map and return them to your home base for points, all without being taken out yourself. "Party Animals" is slated for release on PC and Xbox in early 2023.
Skull & Bones
Every generation has its rebels, its criminals, and its revolutionaries. Sometimes they win the day and become the very power structure they sought to abolish. Other times they're crushed beneath the bootheel of the establishment until they crumble and fade away. Sometimes, if you give them enough time, they become folk heroes and symbols. They become eternal.
In recent decades, the pirates of old have received a PR makeover the likes of which no criminal lifestyle has ever enjoyed. No longer are they just brigands of the high seas, they are symbols of adventure. In "Skull & Bones," you'll take to the ocean as the captain of your own ships. You've recently been offered and refused a royal pardon, and you're on your way to the Indian Ocean to start fresh in a new world (via Gematsu).
You'll build a crew, then you'll build a fleet, all in the hope of becoming lord of the seas. Play along with friends, each commanding your own ships, to take on well-defended trade convoys, then split the booty. Or, you can always betray your fellow pirate captains and make a move for complete control of the seas. "Skull & Bones" is scheduled for release on PC and all major consoles on March 9, 2023.
Rotwood
If you've ever wanted to be a character in a violent but adorable battle cartoon (and, honestly, who among us hasn't?), then "Rotwood" might be your best chance. From Klei Entertainment, "Rotwood" is a multiplayer dungeon crawler for up to four players.
Each of you controls a stylized animated animal preparing to embark into a dark and mysterious forest. As you progress throughout the game, you'll move deeper into the woods and encounter stranger and more powerful enemies (via Game Informer). Along the way, you'll battle everything from enchanted onions and gourds to oversized pillbugs and giant bloodthirsty insects. And with every victory, you'll use the spoils of war to craft new weapons and items so you can continue the fight.
"Rotwood" appears to have all of the fun of a classic beat 'em up, coupled with a unique animated aesthetic you can't help but want to soak up. The game's official release date is up in the air but it's preparing for early access sometime in 2023.
Minecraft Legends
The simple gameplay and blocky aesthetic of "Minecraft" made it not just an instant classic, but the most successful video game of all time. Now, Mojang is returning players to the same universe with a new and fantastical story, and a new perspective, to boot.
In "Minecraft Legends" you're not a humble crafter or a lone survivor, you're a hero. Gameplay focuses less on crafting materials and objects from the ground up and more on the exciting fantasy-based narrative of the overworld. A trailer shows a mysterious portal emerging from the Nether, unleashing malicious creatures across the landscape. You'll play as a uniting hero, bringing together even the forces you once considered enemies themselves, to combat the forces of the Nether (via GameSpot).
Between battles, you will have an opportunity to craft as you build, maintain, and improve your base of operations. The game will also offer both competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes, but the precise details surrounding how that will work remain to be seen. We won't have to wait long though, as "Minecraft Legends" is slated for release on all major consoles sometime in 2023.
Exoprimal
Survival games often pit players up against zombies or other classic monsters, but "Exoprimal" puts humanity up against monsters from our own past. Using high-tech exosuits and an array of futuristic weapons, you and your friends will blast your way through a city under siege from an endless onslaught of dinosaurs.
The game was revealed at State of Play in March 2022 in a largely cinematic trailer. A robot provides the dinosaur forecast, a news broadcast that predicts the appearance of dinosaurs the way a modern newscaster might predict a summer storm. Then a group of soldiers get into exosuits and, like storm chasers of the future, enter into the affected zones to fight the flood of dinosaurs literally falling from the sky.
There are at least three different types of units to choose from, including assault, tank, and support roles (via Digital Trends), but there may be additional ones we don't yet know about. You'll play with friends to cover all the bases and, hopefully, save yourselves and the world from the monsters of the past. "Exoprimal" is planned for release on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox sometime in 2023.
Voidtrain
"Voidtrain" has one of the cooler game concepts we've seen in recent years. You play as a crew member aboard an interdimensional train. It's up to you and the crew to build the train and pilot it through the endless void, a void filled with life-changing treasures and deadly monsters, in equal measure.
It's possible to play "Voidtrain" on your own, but it's even better when you play co-op with up to three friends. The game is currently available via early access on the Epic Games store but has no firm release for the full game. It was previously announced that "Voidtrain" would hit Steam in October of 2022 (via IGN), but, as of this writing, the game remains TBD with the option to add it to your wishlist.
Considering the game's trajectory, there is some suspicion that it will drop sometime in 2023 but whether that comes true or not remains to be seen. It's also unclear which, if any, consoles you'll be able to play "Voidtrain" on, or if it will be a PC exclusive.
Blanc
"Blanc" drops players into a whitewashed forest in the aftermath of a winter storm. You'll take control of two woodland creatures and unlikely friends: a fawn and a wolf cub. Together, the two adolescent animals utilize their unique abilities to solve puzzles and reunite with their families.
In fact, "Blanc" requires two-player cooperation in order to progress throughout the game. One character might be good at moving heavy objects while another is good at squeezing into tight spaces. Progressing through the game's many challenges while following your families' footsteps means cooperation or death. The game can be played locally via couch co-op or online, with you and a friend each taking control of one of the game's two playable characters (via Gematsu).
What is, perhaps, most impressive about "Blanc" is the atmosphere it succeeds in creating. The hand-drawn black and white art coupled with an alluring musical score make for an immediately captivating game world we'd happily spend hours frolicking through. Luckily, we won't have to wait long. "Blanc" is scheduled for release on PC and Nintendo Switch on February 14, 2023.
Kerbal Space Program 2
From Epic Games comes the follow-up to the massively popular "Kerbal Space Program." You'll start the same way the first game did, on the planet Kerbin. You'll be in charge of developing and advancing a fledgling space program with an initial target of visiting Kerbin's moon, appropriately called Mun. From there, you'll build increasingly advanced spacecrafts and explore the rest of the local system.
Unlike the first game, you won't be limited to just this one system. As you explore more worlds and build increasingly advanced machinery, you'll have an opportunity to construct an interstellar spacecraft and visit other stars (via PC Gamer). "Kerbal Space Program 2" will also include a multiplayer option, allowing you to join forces with your friends to send your intrepid explorers into the vast cosmic dark.
The game was first revealed at Gamescom in 2019, with an initial launch date of early 2020. Of course, early 2020 didn't go according to plan for anyone and the game has since been delayed (via Space). In fact, the game has been delayed four times already, so a little skepticism is warranted, but it's on track to hit players' hands in 2023. At the time of this writing, "Kerbal Space Program 2" is scheduled to hit early access on Steam and Epic Games on February 24, 2023.