2024 brought players a few noteworthy new multiplayer games, but it’s safe to say 2025 performed much better, delivering many excellent releases that captivated the attention of millions of players and reinforced the idea that cooperation is at the core of the best multiplayer experiences, whether or not competition is involved. It also showed that there’s plenty of space for unconventional experiences, too, particularly when the game mechanics can make players depend on each other.

Other Best Games of 2025 per Category: Fighting Games, Sports & Racing Games, Role-Playing Games, Horror Games, Platformers, Indie Games, Action, DLC/Expansion, Shooter Games, Adventure Games

Elden Ring Nightreign (9)

FromSoftware has never been a studio that focuses squarely on multiplayer in its games. Ever since Demon’s Souls, their co-op approach has been intentionally minimal: mainly asynchronous, with limited direct interactions, and ultimately designed to enhance the single-player loop without fundamentally altering it. Before the upcoming multiplayer-focused Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods, it was the launch of Elden Ring Nightreign that proved how the Japanese studio plans to evolve their multiplayer design going forward (without abandoning single player games, or so they claim anyway).

This standalone survival co-op experience showed everyone that FromSoftware knows how to innovate even in the multiplayer space. In Nightreign, three players band together as Nightfarers to survive a three-day-and-night cycle. The Night’s Tide gradually contracts the explorable map, taking a cue from Battle Royale modes, funneling players toward increasingly dangerous bosses that culminate in a confrontation with the Nightlord itself. Instead of exploring at your own pace like in Elden Ring, the world is actively collapsing around you, demanding constant decision-making about which areas to loot, which boss fights to engage, and which paths lead toward salvation or defeat.

Boss encounters, which feature many remixed classics with new mechanics tailored to the game’s three-player party composition, demand coordinated tactics. One player cannot simply tank while others DPS; all three must understand positioning, dodge timing, and damage windows. There cannot be a weak link in an Elden Ring Nightreign; every player must contribute meaningfully. Of course, eventually, someone is bound to fall. In most co-op multiplayer games, when that happens, you simply revive them through a contextual button prompt. Here, though, you must actually attack them, damaging their downed meter to restore them to life; yet another of FromSoftware’s ways to distinguish themselves from the pack.

Movement mechanics have been understandably overhauled for co-op pacing. Wall-jumping, spectral hawk traversal (briefly holding onto flying hawks for aerial repositioning), and zero-damage falls encourage vertical exploration and constant forward momentum, in another major shift from the regular Elden Ring experience.

Furthermore, the eight unique Nightfarers each possess distinct movesets and Ultimate abilities. Unlike traditional FromSoftware games, where weapon choice defines your playstyle, Nightreign demands character mastery. Your chosen Nightfarer’s unique abilities, including area-of-effect ultimates, defensive shields, and mobility enhancements, become your team’s tactical foundation. Squad composition and constant communication are critical to success.

The result of this experimentation is something entirely new. Not merely a Souls game with expanded multiplayer, but a multiplayer game with strong FromSoftware DNA, and one that players are enjoying immensely, as evidenced by the strong sales that even surpassed the expectations of parent company Kadokawa.

Battlefield 6 (8.5)

Unlike Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 6 reintroduced a proper single player campaign to the shooter franchise. This mode’s development was spearheaded by Motive Studios, drawing inspiration from acclaimed military and war movies and TV shows. The story mode did not resonate with either reviewers or fans, but that didn’t meaningfully harm the game’s reception, proving once again that Battlefield is primarily about that trademark squad-based multiplayer experience.

Battlefield 6 arrived as the franchise’s most confident statement in nearly a decade. Its developers remembered the lesson that large-scale multiplayer warfare thrives when environment design and player agency converge into tactical possibilities.

Every weapon recoil pattern was painstakingly calibrated, and gunplay feels responsive and skill-rewarding without abandoning accessibility. Every movement option available to players, such as tactical rolls, vehicle-clinging, and wall-mounted weapon positioning, serves a tactical purpose. Arguably, one of the biggest changes is the ability to drag downed teammates behind cover before reviving. This transforms squad survival from the binary dead or alive into a spectrum that rewards positioning and timing.

As a direct response to the failure of 2042’s Specialist system, the beloved Battlefield class system (Assault, Engineer, Support, Recon) returns with a clearer role definition than recent entries. Assault players excel at aggressive momentum; Engineers anchor defensive positions with gadgets; Support sustains squad viability through resource provision; Recon provides tactical information through reconnaissance tools. No class is truly complete on its own, thus reinforcing the philosophy that the squad must complement each other’s skillsets to excel.

The vehicle implementation exceeded expectations. Helicopters, jets, tanks, trucks, and APCs provide legitimate tactical alternatives to infantry that are powerful in the right situation. The vehicle-to-infantry balance feels carefully calibrated: helicopters are strong but vulnerable to coordinated anti-aircraft fire, jets provide air superiority but demand skilled pilots, and tanks excel at area control but suffer against coordinated squad tactics. Just like with classes, vehicles must be supported by other vehicles and the infantry.

Portal mode returned as DICE’s creative sandbox, allowing players to remix maps, customize rule sets, and build custom game modes with more tools than ever. Season 1 added three new maps (Blackwell Fields, a new large-scale map featuring the armored APC Traverser Mark 2) alongside seasonal variants of existing maps, demonstrating genuine post-launch commitment.

The free-to-play Battle Royale component, REDSEC, didn’t quite obtain the same level of praise as the core Battlefield 6 modes, but there’s still time to improve it during the game’s live service phase.

Peak

Often, the most innovative multiplayer experiences emerge not from AAA studios but from indie teams willing to gamble on entirely unconventional premises. Landcrab’s Peak is one such example, whose excellent replayability and suitability for streaming and social chaos have made it a smashing success, with nearly 15 million units sold to date, according to Alinea Analytics estimates.

The premise is deceptively simple: a plane crashes on a mountain. Four nature scouts must summit the peak or die trying. Over a 4-6 hour campaign, players ascend through five distinct biomes (Shore, Tropics, Alpine, Caldera, Kiln), managing stamina, coordinating rescue mechanics, and wrestling with procedurally-generated terrain that shifts every 24 hours.

Climbing is physics-based and genuinely difficult, mainly because Stamina is a resource that demands proper management and rest. Hauling teammates to safety requires the rescuer to sacrifice stamina and stability. Scavenging for questionable food to restore stamina is a strategic puzzle in itself. Resource management becomes emotional: watching a teammate exhaust their stamina on a failed jump, knowing you don’t have enough food to revive them both, creates genuine drama.

The proximity voice chat system also forces players to literally huddle together to communicate, fostering immersion and intimacy. Peak is undoubtedly at its greatest when you’re screaming at your friend to grab the rope before they tumble into lava.

The daily map rotation ensures no two climbs feel identical. The Shore introduces Peak’s basic mechanics, but the Tropics introduces hazardous flora and stamina-draining venom. The Alpine features treacherous ice and avalanche mechanics. The Caldera is a firestorm that must be carefully navigated without burning to death. The Kiln is an unstable volcanic shaft where a single mistake sends you cartwheeling into molten lava. Each biome escalates the stakes and mechanical complexity.

The badge system (cosmetic rewards for specific challenges) and progressive unlocks ensure long-term engagement. This is cooperative multiplayer as it should be designed: challenging, replayable, social-first, and freed from stale genre trappings.

ARC Raiders (9)

Embark Studios famously pivoted the ARC Raiders project from a free-to-play cooperative shooter to a premium (although budget-priced) PvPvE extraction shooter that almost perfectly balances PvP intensity and environmental threat without privileging one over the other. ARC Raiders is the studio’s answer, a game where artificial intelligence is nearly as lethal and unpredictable as human opponents, where the extracted loot you carry home matters as much as kill counts, and where cooperation paradoxically emerges from selfish, survival-first gameplay.

What distinguishes ARC from competitors is AI integration. The ARC themselves aren’t damage sponges or mere environmental obstacles—they’re intelligent, behavioral enemies with individual profiles that can be an actual threat.

The loadout diversity ensures tactical expression, and the free loadouts feature (randomized starting gear) allows practice runs without risking their best equipment. Indeed, it’s easy to see that ARC Raiders is much more accessible than Escape from Tarkov (which just launched its 1.0 version, by the way).

In Embark’s game, the extraction mechanics rely on constant communication. Elevator extractions (calling down an elevator and activating consoles to descend) create high-traffic confrontation zones, whereas train extractions require navigating subway stations. Finally, raider hatch extracts (which require specific keys) provide silent, rapid-deployment options. Each extraction type demands different tactical approaches. Moreover, ARC Raiders even lets you extract while downed.

ARC Raiders managed to attract even many gamers who weren’t really fans of the extraction shooter genre. Its secret lies in a deep understanding of what makes a PvPvE game thrilling yet approachable: unpredictability mixed with accessibility.

Split Fiction (8)

Hazelight Studios has long carved for itself a unique niche within the sea of cooperative game experiences. Their pedigree, from A Way Out to It Takes Two, is all about creating memorable titles that can only be played by two users working together in a split-screen environment. Split Fiction once again demonstrates that the studio can rival single-player games in storytelling sophistication while maintaining design principles that make cooperative play feel essential, not optional, as it often is in most multiplayer games.

In Split Fiction, two authors, Mio and Zoe, are estranged collaborators forced to navigate fantastical worlds they’ve co-created. When a magical force traps them in their own fictional settings, they must traverse both the fantasy realm they were designing and the sci-fi world Zoe envisioned separately, ultimately discovering that their creative partnership mirrors their damaged personal relationship. The game is fundamentally about reconciliation on multiple levels: creative, emotional, and romantic.

Split Fiction alternates between three distinct gameplay frameworks, each requiring a different cooperative approach. The fantasy segments see one player wielding a sword while the other casts spells, forcing constant communication about positioning and enemy threat. The sci-fi segments invert that paradigm, demanding puzzle-solving coordination where one player controls gravity manipulators while the other navigates platforms only accessible through gravitational reversal. Then there are the equally essential narrative segments, featuring intimate character moments, dialogue trees that branch based on player responses, and relationship changes that carry lasting emotional weight.

The game’s artistic direction is phenomenal. Each world is visually distinct: the fantasy realm features warm, earthy tones and lush environments, while the sci-fi world is sleek, sterile, and chromatic. The Friends Pass system, which allows a single purchaser to invite a non-owner friend for free multiplayer, returns to remove the usual friction from co-op adoption. Hazelight understands that co-op games thrive when accessibility is prioritized. No friend should miss this experience due to financial barriers.

Split Fiction may not have won the coveted Game of the Year prize at The Game Awards like It Takes Two did back in 2021, but it was still highly successful, selling four million units in the first two months. Hollywood has also smelled potential, with Amazon MGM winning a bidding war that will lead to a movie featuring rising star Sydney Sweeney in the cast, directed by Jon M. Chu.

Best Multiplayer Game of 2025

Honorable Mentions

There are many more multiplayer games launched this year that are worth your attention, including these extra five:

• Monster Hunter Wilds
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Absolum
• Borderlands 4
• Dune Awakening

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