2025 has given us some pretty crazy co-op explosions, from big-budget mayhem, to slick indie surprises, there’s some pretty good stuff. Hi folks, it’s Zaid, and today on Aura Riot, the top 20 new co-op games of 2025.
20. Sniper Elite: Resistance
Which has been out since January. Basically, you’re Harry Hawker, an SOE operative battling Nazi propagandists. It’s an eight-mission campaign, supports full two-player online co-op with weapon sharing, revive support, crazy infiltration, if you’re more action-obsessed than stealth-heavy, there’s also a four-player survival mode and arcade-style propaganda challenges for more quick-oriented stuff. It’s not a fast-paced game otherwise, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think it’s a good one. I played it a bit back when it came out. It’s out on the PlayStations, Xbox Series, and PC.
19. Peak
A surprise sensation from this year, procedurally-generated four-player co-op climbing game is what we’re dealing with here. The sole goal is to reach the top of a mountain, every day, a different island. You and your squad basically face-plant off a cliff. This one came out back in June, it has sold bonkers, it took nine days to sell 2 million copies. The devs basically built it in four weeks in a game jam, and then fleshed it out to a full game and it’s just something that people absolutely love. That’s out on Steam right now.
18. Kingmakers
A sandbox mashup releasing on early access October 8th on PC. Basically, you and up to four players, each commanding your own armies of medieval infantry with modern weaponry, basically do nutcase, “Red Faction: Guerrilla” stuff in medieval times. Like everything about this looks completely crazy. It’s one of those games where if it works, it’s probably going to be one of the biggest things out there, because it’s awesome-looking. “Kingmakers” is landing on PC in early access October 8th.
17. Little Nightmares III
Supermassive Games takes the reins to deliver some series first, it’s the debut of online co-op. You can play this with a friend or solo with an AI helper, as you guide Low, who has a bow weapon, and Alone, who has a wrench, through a bunch of surreal puzzles. Unfortunately, there’s no couch co-op on this one. This is something that I’m not super happy about. However, “Little Nightmares” is also just really good. It’s a price to pay, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. It’s something I lament a little bit though. “Little Nightmares III” is coming to PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch October 10th.
16. Dune: Awakening
Funcom’s ambitious “Dune: Awakening” MMO, launched back on June 10th. It’s got both PVP and PVE co-op. Those features hinge on persistent shared worlds. You and your guild can go solo, you can team up, but unless you pay for a private server, you’re eventually mingling with other players in the Deep Desert zones. PVP isn’t mandatory, thanks to designated PVE areas, so that’s great. Crossplay is, it’s unconfirmed, but the PC launch preceded the console launch, which will be next year. That being said, “Dune: Awakening” is out now on PC.
15. ARC Raiders
This one trades classic co-op for extraction-heavy strategy. It’s set on a ruined earth, where robotic ARC machines have pushed humanity underground. You raid the surface for loot, and flee before being killed by AI, rival players, or your own bad tactical choices. Squads of up to three players in size will be able to go on expeditions, and well, the beta impressions have been pretty against type for a lot of genre cliches, very polished, a lot of people calling it refreshing, it’s something that I look forward to giving a shot. “ARC Raiders” is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series October 30th.
14. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
Hot off the reveal at the Xbox Game Showcase in June, “Black Ops 7” gives us a brand-new co-op campaign, marking the first time since “Black Ops 3,” solo players could squad up with friends for campaign missions, which is great. This one’s set in 2035, so obviously, not too far off into the future, and returns David Mason to fight Raul Menendez possibly as an AI, not completely sure on that. We don’t have an exact release date, but it’ll be landing between late October and mid-November, apparently. The heavy rumor is November 14th, so we will see. This is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
13. Monster Hunter Wilds
The next-gen “Monster Hunter” drops you in the Forbidden Lands, an ever-shifting ecosystem with dynamic weather, and really just a real good-looking place. Lots of different biomes, lots of different stuff to see. You can hunt with up to four players online. There’s no couch co-op, but I mean, we didn’t really expect it with “Monster Hunter.” Some people have been a little frustrated with the multiplayer user experience, but honestly, when it’s doing what it’s supposed to do, it’s really fun. “Monster Hunter Wilds” has been out on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC since February.
12. Split Fiction
Hazelight Studio’s two-player co-op whirlwind between sci-fi and fantasy. Basically you have a sci-fi author and a fantasy author that get trapped in a simulation, and they have to navigate each other’s story world, so you got dragon-taming fantasy, you got neon cyber ninja action, and pretty much everything in between. You get both online crossplay, as well as local split-screen, comes with Friend Pass, so only one person has to buy it for both to play. Honestly, it’s the ideal version of this kind of co-op game. Both critics and players love it. It’s out on PC, PlayStation, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch, pick it up.
11. Mycopunk
Developed by Pigeons At Play. Basically, you’re some robots tasked with clearing a moon overrun by a biomechanical fungal monstrosities, using zany weapons and various crazy abilities. It’s a mission-based FPS, four-player online co-op, drop-in, dropout. Honestly, it’s pretty fun, ’cause you got your gunplay pretty fast, pretty fluid. And then you’ve got your upgrades in this goofy Tetris-style grid that it’s insane, and I really enjoy it actually. If you’re looking for something at least somewhat unique, give this one a shot. It’s definitely good. It’s currently in early access on PC.
10. Painkiller
The classic over-the-top FPS. Now I’m not exactly sure what possessed them to make a “Painkiller” reboot a three-player co-op game, but I’m not upset about it. Everything I’ve seen has a pretty chaos-heavy look to it, and the combat looks fluid and fun. We’ve seen some early-play critics criticize the AI as maybe a little bit weak, but for the most part, I’ve seen a lot of positivity about it. “Painkiller” is coming to PS5, Xbox Series, and PC on October 9th.
9. Gears of War: E-Day
A prequel set 14 years before the first “Gears of War” where you and a younger Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago survive Emergence Day, the outbreak point of the Locust War. It’s interesting, because we’ve actually got early versions of things like the Lancer, the iconic gun, stuff that wasn’t necessarily established because you weren’t, you know, previously accustomed to fighting Locust hordes, they just came out of the ground and screwed everybody over. Official launch hasn’t been nailed down, but let’s cross our fingers for a launch this year. If not, I mean it’s gonna be a hell of a lot of fun next year.
8. Crimson Desert
So “Crimson Desert” isn’t exactly a co-op game. It is cinematic and grand, and we want to talk about it, so we are, there are promises of a kind of GTA-style multiplayer mode that will come later, It’s not guaranteed, it’s kind of developer talk, but hey, we can hope, right? The game looks so cool, like not having that would suck a lot, but I mean, even if we don’t get it, it’s still gonna be a very good single-player game from the looks. Still crossing my fingers though, we do see that. We do know “Crimson Desert” is coming quarter four on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.
7. Grounded 2
The sequel to Obsidian’s backyard survival hit, went into early access, and is now available. It is a four-player co-op survival experience, just like the original, with a newer bigger park that’s nearly three times the size of the old backyard, with rideable insect mounts, improved crafting, character tools, base building. Honestly, it looks crazy. This one is out on Xbox Series and PC, so give it a shot.
6. Marvel Cosmic Invasion
A retro-style beat ’em up with 15 beloved Marvel heroes. Basically doing more X-Men arcadey-looking stuff. There is a co-op twist, you pick a tag team of two heroes, switch between ’em mid fight using the Cosmic Swap system, and that supports up to four players with both online and couch co-op, drop-in, dropout, and full crossplay across all platforms. Honestly, how could you not want something that looks basically like a follow-up to X-Men Arcade? That’s where I’m going. “Cosmic Invasion” is coming to the PlayStations, the Xboxes, Nintendo Switch, and PC late in the year.
5. Elden Ring: Nightreign
A game that I did the “Before You Buy” for, a little bit not complete, not necessarily big enough, and maybe a little bit too punishing for its size at launch. It has gotten better, since we’ve got a couple of patches, that have certainly made solo runs less punishing, and I guess, possible. They’ve also added duos mode, which I would say potentially makes probably one of the biggest problems of the game, a non-problem, which is that you can just play it with one other person, and it’s not stupid, like impossible. But as of this recording, that patch comes out tomorrow, so I have no way of knowing how that is, I just know that July 30th is when that patch drops, I’m writing on the 29th. I would say that in a lot of ways, it looks like it’s living up to its cooperative promise, we’ll see. It’s out on the PlayStations, the Xboxes, and PC, give it a shot.
4. SAND
An absolutely chaotic-looking game where you and up to six players enter a desert apocalypse, where you drive around on these things called Tramplers, which are kind of bases/mechs that you build, pilot, and fight with. It’s one that unfortunately got delayed, one I’ve been really looking forward to, it’s basically “Sea Of Thieves,” but the ships have legs and flamethrowers, and it was gonna come out back in April, but again, like I said, it got delayed. It sucks, ’cause it’s one of those ones that I just, I really want to play it. I’ve looked at tons of footage of it, so I really hope that they stay on track to launch this year. It does say they’re set to launch in early access 2025, so fingers crossed.
3. Runescape: Dragonwilds
This is a very different “Runescape” game launched back in April. It’s co-op survival in Unreal Engine 5, up to four players can explore, build, battle dragons, wield magic, and craft gear. It’s a huge departure for “Runescape,” but it has a very positive Steam rating. So if it sounds like something you’d be interested in, play it. It’s, from all accounts, a good version of it. It’s again, it’s one that I haven’t really been able to spend time with. It’s that I want to, though. The full launch is sometime next year, we’re in early access, like I said, but it’s out on PC.
2. Dying Light: The Beast
After years of being experimented on, Kyle Crane is back, now with werehog abilities. That’s right, there’s a beast mode, parkour meets primal monster rage in Castor Woods, Techland’s rural horror playground full of scenic dread, and big monsters to fight. You can team up with up to four other players to tear through hordes of zombies together. This was originally gonna come August 22nd, but they delayed it to September 19th to polish, balance, animations, UI, et cetera, but it looks good. It’s coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series on September 19th, and then to the previous generation of consoles later in the year.
1. Borderlands 4
The looter-shooter that basically invented the genre, is of course, back, on a brand new planet called Kairos. Expect the usual, gun showers, over-the-top abilities, and dialogue that thinks it’s funnier than it is. They know that Three was not good in terms of the humor, so I expect it will be better than Three. But they finally upgraded the co-op system, it’s got drop-in and dropout play, scalable difficulty, instanced loot, and full crossplay. Finally, a “Borderlands” that doesn’t punish you for having a friend. “Borderlands 4” is coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PC, and Switch 2 September 12th.
That’s all we’ve got for you today. Leave us a comment, let us know what you think. And as always, we thank you very much for reading this blog. I’m Zaid. We’ll see you next time, right here on Aura Riot.