The 2024 list of our most anticipated multiplayer games is hugely dominated by the survival genre, which is bleeding into all kinds of franchises and settings nowadays. It’s worth noting that we focused on brand new titles here; for the upcoming expansions and DLCs to existing multiplayer games, head to this list.
Previously in Wccftech’s most anticipated games of 2024: Action, RPG, Horror, Fighting, Adventure, Platform, Indie, Expansion/DLC, Sports/Racing, Shooter
Helldivers 2 (February 8 – PC, PlayStation 5)
The first game on the multiplayer games list is also the closest to release. Arrowhead is once again partnering with Sony on this sequel, which makes the big jump from top-down view to third-person. Much of the rest of the game remains similar: Helldivers 2 asks players to grab up to three friends, land on a planet, and exterminate aliens, all in the name of democracy. In true Arrowhead style, though, players are highly advised to beware of the devastating danger of friendly fire, which is enabled at all times.
ARK 2 (Fall 2024 – PC, Xbox Series S|X)
ARK 2 was featured on the multiplayer games list last year. That’s because it was originally announced for a 2023 release window until developer Studio Wildcard delayed it to late 2024.
Regardless, it’s still an obligatory addition even in 2024. The original game was a knock-out success (it had sold 5.5 million units as of August 2016) and remains popular to this day. This sequel made with Unreal Engine 5 plans to be quite different, though, to the point that Studio Wildcard decided to remake the original to keep them separate for the respective fanbases. ARK 2 will abandon the first-person view to focus solely on third-person gameplay featuring ‘advanced character movement’ with mantling, free-climbing, parkour, swinging, and sliding. The combat is deliberately modeled after the Soulslike genre, so players can expect blocks, dodges, combos, staggers, special attacks, and the like. And this time, you’ll be partnering with none other than Vin Diesel in the story.
Dune: Awakening (2024 – PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X)
Unlike the other survival games on this list, Funcom’s Dune: Awakening has the benefit of a powerhouse IP. The Norwegian developer and publisher partnered with Legendary Studios nearly five years ago to create games in the universe conceived by Frank Herbert.
The RTS/4X game Dune: Spice Wars already launched, but Funcom’s big project is Dune: Awakening. Originally presented as a survival game (with a scope further increased after Tencent acquired the studio), it was actually unveiled to be a hybrid MMO game, which makes perfect sense given the history of Funcom (Anarchy Online, Conan Exiles, The Secret World).
Survival elements such as maintaining the iconic stillsuit filled with water will still be there, but they’ll be featured in a massive, persistent world filled with thousands of players, whereas survival games tend to support only up to a hundred players at most. Players will be able to create a guild and transform it into a Minor House allied with one of the Great Houses, like Atreides, Harkonnen, and Corrino. As you would expect, scouring the deserts of Arrakis for spice will be pivotal, but you’ll have to be careful of other clans, not to mention the sandstorms and sandworms.
Nightingale (February 22 in Early Access – PC)
Originally conceived as an online roleplaying game powered by Improbable’s SpatialOS technology, Nightingale was repurposed as a shared world survival crafting game without said technology. It’s still looking great, though, thanks to the gorgeous Unreal Engine 5 visuals coupled with the interesting Victorian gaslamp fantasy setting. Players will soon start roaming the dangerous Fae Realms as they seek the way to the lost magical city of Nightingale. The Realm Card system allows them to decide which Realms they’re more interested in visiting rather than leaving everything to chance, as in most survival multiplayer games.
Once Human (Q3 2024 – PC)
NetEase’s Starry Studio might be crafting something special with Once Human, which we first reported on the game in late 2022 when it appeared at the PC Gaming Show. While at first glance its mechanics might look a lot like your regular survival game, Once Human is set apart by its New Weird universe. In the game, an extra-terrestrial substance known as Stardust has altered the planet, transforming living creatures into Aberrants, terrifying monsters with supernatural abilities. Players take on the role of Metas – soldiers who protect the last surviving pockets of humanity from the growing threat posed by Aberrants while uncovering the secrets of Stardust pollution so that it may be stopped once and for all.
The game was very well received in December’s beta test and currently targets a Fall release window.
Honorable Mentions
There’s many more upcoming multiplayer games worth following. Here’s another five, for example:
