Vampire Survivors is such an influential game that lots of games in the same style are popping up, but I bet you already knew that. Each game needs to differentiate itself with a unique theme. The recently released Outer Terror has a horror theme, for instance, and now Sunsoft's Ikki Unite has come along with a feudal Japanese setting. This one is a sequel to a classic Japanese arcade game, but it has lots of Vampire Survivors style and 16-player online co-op to make it appealing to modern gamers. After first appearing on Steam, Ikki Unite is now available on Switch as well.

In 1985, Sunsoft released a Japanese arcade game called Ikki. Many years later, a sequel has arrived in the form of Ikki Unite. The game depicts a feudal farming village that rises up to overthrow its evil overlords. Up to 16 players can team up online in the Steam version of Ikki Unite. Nintendo players will soon be able to join in the feudal fun when the Switch version arrives on April 18 courtesy of Sunsoft and Plug In Digital.

You can count on summer for two things: horribly inhumane temperatures and the Steam Summer Sale. When the Summer Sale comes 'round every year, Steam slashes prices on hundreds of PC games. This year's sale includes steep discounts on  games like Starship Troopers: Extinction, Sea of Thieves 2023 Edition, Monster Hunter Rise, and many more. To make things easier for cooperatively-minded gamers, we've assembled this list of co-op highlights from the sale.

It's always good to see a game graduate from early access and join the ranks of fully-released games. Barotrauma, the 2D submarine simulator from Daedelic Entertainment, first appeared as a Steam Early Access game way back in 2019. After several years of updates, Barotrauma has emerged from Early Access and become a full Steam game. This one allows up to 16 online players to pilot a submarine together while dealing with monstrous sea creatures and other threats.

Mike and Nick are reliving their teenage years thanks to the free update to QUAKE. Bethesda and id Software have brought the game into the modern age with high resolution graphics, controller support, and full internet play including cross platform multiplayer.

A few months ago, we heard about a new co-op survival game that tasked you and 15 of your nearest and dearest friends to successfully manage a submarine and navigate the depths of Europa's oceans. Barotrauma arrives today to Steam Early Access, so you can see just how much "Hunt for the Red October" got right/wrong when it comes to submarines.

Soldak's got a new action-RPG, Din's Legacy, and if you've ever played a Soldak game, it's definitely more of that particular style of "cRPG meets aRPG from the late 90s." Basically, if you've ever looked at Path of Exile and thought, "sure, but could there be MORE systems," then you really need to take a look at Soldak's catalog.

Ever since Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime arrived four year ago, seems like we've seen an uptick in co-op games where players work together to manage/pilot a ship, which is A-OK by me! The newest entry in the cooperative ship simulator is Barotrauma, a game from Finnish developers FakeFish and Undertow where players control a submarine as it explores the watery depths of Europa.

Final Days kicked of last week's Monday Night Stream, with Nick and Jason diving head first into the twin stick shooter. The game itself is pretty basic - drop in with you and some friends against a set number of mutant enemies. Clear the enemies, move on to the next stage. 

Paging all Hunters, hop into Monster Hunter: World right now and tackle the newest monster, the golden Elder Dragon Kulve Taroth. This one's a little special, though; it won't just be you and three of your buddies this time around. Kulve Taroth is an especially "big boi" and thus 16 players must team up to bring him down and craft new gear from his sparkly hide.

In more great news from Microsoft, 16 original Xbox games are being added to the Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility list. All of the titles either need to be purchased and downloaded through the Xbox Marketplace or played with a physical copy in the Xbox One. The first batch of 8 games is set to arrive on April 17th and the later 8 on April 26th. While a number of the games feature some sort of multiplayer, it’s the April 26th release of Star Wars Battlefront (2004) and Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005) that feature the Co-Op we’re most excited about.

Muse Games' steampunk airship combat title, Guns of Icarus Alliance, is making its way onto the PlayStation 4. When it does, not only will it feature cross-platform play with the Steam version of the game, but cross-platform voice chat as well.