Some open-world games are simply more enjoyable when the story is shared. Playing alone can be fun, but playing together changes how the story feels. Conversations land better, missions feel less routine. Even small moments become memorable when another player reacts to them in real time.
Say Hello To The Next 5 Big Upcoming Open-World Co-Op Games
From relaxing sandboxes to action RPGs, these upcoming open-world co-op games will let you explore massive realms with your friends.
Fun stories in this list vary from dark and serious to lighthearted and silly. One game might focus on a tense battle against a Montana cult, while another could drop players into a colorful pirate world full of puns. Good co-op storytelling also solves the problem of the silent partner. In these titles, the other players feel like a necessary part of the world.
Only fully open-world games will be included, and games that let you play through the main story in co-op. Games with separate multiplayer modes will not be considered.
Far Cry 5
Reclaiming a Rural County from a Violent Religious Cult
- Players work together to liberate a rural county from a group of fanatical leaders.
- The narrative shifts based on the pressure the team applies to the territories.
Few co-op games dare to build their entire story around belief, fear, and manipulation, and then drop players into the middle of it with no clear heroes or villains. Far Cry 5 does exactly that by turning rural Montana into a battleground between a doomsday cult and ordinary people pushed too far. The open world feels calm on the surface, but every town, farm, and roadside encounter quietly feeds into a larger story about control and resistance, which becomes far more engaging when experienced with a partner.
Players can invite a friend into their session so both can explore Hope County shoulder-to-shoulder. They can tackle story missions, liberate cult-held territories, and participate in the open world’s many activities as a team. That said, only the host player’s game world records mission progress and story completion. That means the guest can experience the story and help complete objectives in the host’s world, but when they return to their own save, story progress won’t carry over. Still, both players keep the experience, money, and items they earn, which makes co-op exploration and combat rewarding for both sides.
Diablo 4
Confronting an Ancient Evil Across the Ravaged World of Sanctuary in a 4-Player Co-op
- Hunt the demon Lilith while uncovering the bleak history of a world plagued by war.
- 4-player co-op.
Diablo 4 is designed to be enjoyed either solo or with others, and its co‑op features stand out as a major way to experience both its story and action. Up to four players can join online in a shared party, each bringing their own custom character into battles against demons, bosses, and world challenges. Players can run through the campaign quests together as long as they are at the same point in the story. When they sync up in progress, party members advance together through quests and narrative milestones. If they aren’t aligned, for example, if one player is farther ahead in the campaign, the host’s world state controls progress until everyone catches up.
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Diablo 4 picks up decades after the end of Diablo 3 and returns to a darker, more oppressive tone, driven by the return of Lilith, daughter of the demon Mephisto and one of the series’ most notorious figures. Lilith’s resurrection throws Sanctuary into chaos, and players must uncover twisted lore, battle demons, and forge fragile alliances with human factions struggling for survival in a world on the brink of collapse.
Dying Light
Navigating a Zombie Outbreak with High-Stakes Parkour
- A team of four survivors moves across rooftops to avoid the deadly predators on the streets.
- The story builds tension as the daylight fades and forces the group to find safe zones.
When it comes to zombie games, only a few titles can match the survival-horror experience of Dying Light. In Dying Light, players basically find themselves in an infected city sealed off from the world after a deadly virus outbreak. As undercover operative Kyle Crane, players are sent into the quarantine zone to recover a stolen file with high‑value information. Once inside, Crane quickly realizes that Harran’s danger isn’t just the infected creeping through its streets; it’s also the desperate, fractured survivors and the choices he must make to live another day. The day‑to‑night cycle is more than cosmetic. By sundown, the infected become brutally aggressive, forcing players to rethink their tactics and retreat before darkness consumes them.
But what really makes Dying Light engaging is its parkour‑first design. So leaping between rooftops, sliding under obstacles, and weaving through alleyways never feels static. There’s a way the world invites exploration, whether by scavenging for weapons and supplies or by learning where dangerous hordes lurk after dark. On top of its engaging solo narrative, co‑op support in Dying Light lets up to four players unite online to tackle Harran together. Co‑op unlocks once players complete the introductory sequence that leads them out of the initial tutorial area and into their first safe zone. After this, friends can drop into each other’s games and share in the fear, fun, and chaos.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Reclaiming Na'vi Heritage by Sabotaging Human Military Bases
- Two Na’vi fighters sabotage military outposts to protect the natural ecosystem from destruction.
- Players fly together on aerial mounts to explore vast forests and floating mountain ranges.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora doesn’t lean on the movies alone; it builds its own story of identity, loss, and resistance. Players take on the role of a Na’vi orphan who was raised and trained by the human RDA corporation. After being put into cryosleep for fifteen years, the protagonist wakes up in the Western Frontier, a previously unseen region of Pandora. The story focuses on the character reconnecting with their lost heritage, learning the ways of the Na’vi, and leading a resistance against the RDA’s destructive mining operations. The visuals are really beautiful, as they meticulously recreate the lushness and verticality of James Cameron's cinematic universe.
Best Co-Op Open-World Games
Here are a variety of options for the best co-op games that can be experienced in an open world setting.
Frontiers of Pandora allows players share this journey online with a friend through 2‑player co-op play. After progressing enough in the story. Usually just a few hours in, around missions like The Aranahe Clan or Eywa’s Blessing, co‑op unlocks and becomes an option from the systems menu. Friends can then join each other’s sessions and explore the same version of Pandora together. The story about identity, belonging, and resisting a tide of exploitation becomes so much more fun when two players witness the same breathtaking vistas, the same threats lurking in shadowed forests, and the same emotional beats of reclaiming Pandora’s wilds.
LEGO City Undercover
Solving Goofy Crimes in a LEGO World
- Local split-screen co-op allows two players to experience the full story inside LEGO City together.
- Two officers swap between multiple costumes to solve puzzles and navigate a city built entirely of plastic bricks.
In a world filled with gritty crime dramas and dark stories, LEGO City Undercover stands out like a playful parody full of laughs, LEGO bricks, and quirky crime-fighting. In a way, LEGO City Undercover is what someone would expect if there were a LEGO GTA.
At its heart is Chase McCain, a LEGO police officer returning to LEGO City when the notorious crime boss Rex Fury escapes prison. Fury’s return starts a crime wave, and McCain goes undercover using clever disguises to track him down, bust crooks, and unravel a city-wide web of mischief and mayhem. The game doesn’t borrow characters from blockbuster movies or comics. It builds its own story full of original jokes, slapstick moments, and family-friendly satire of crime-cop pop culture. That unique voice gives the story its charm.
LEGO City Undercover supports local two-player split-screen co-op. In this mode, another player can join at any moment, spawning alongside the main character as an independently controlled partner who explores the city just like Chase. There’s no separate online matchmaking; play happens locally on the same screen, split down the middle, making it ideal for family or friend sessions where two people dive into the city’s story together.
Cat Quest 3
A Lighthearted Co-Op Story about Battling Rat Pirates for Treasure
- Local co-op supports two players as cats sailing the open sea to fight rat armadas and explore tropical islands.
- Focuses on quick ship battles and constant cat-themed puns during the adventure.
Cat Quest 3 takes the series from the green fields of the first two games to a pirate-themed island called the Purribean. The player is a "purrivateer" looking for the Northern Star, a legendary treasure. The main enemies are "Pi-rats," led by the Pirate King. The story is told through simple dialogue bubbles and is filled with cat and pirate puns. What makes this entry different from the previous ones is the introduction of a ship.
Players can sail across the sea, engage in cannon battles with enemy ships, and then jump right off the boat onto an island to start a dungeon. This third game lets a second player jump in locally, either on the same couch or shared screen. Combat in Cat Quest 3 remains faithful to the series’ accessible yet fun design with refined attack combos and weapon-swapping that keep fights lively without overwhelming new players. Co-op makes encounters even more dynamic since players can coordinate attacks, cover each other in boss fights, or tackle dungeons together with a balance of tactics and silliness. So Cat Quest 3 is one of the open-world games that are more fun with co-op.
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