We are not totally against the use of AI here at Co-Optimus Headquarters. Quite the contrary: Claude helped us quite a bit to improve the rather old code base of the site after that whole PHP-fiasco a couple of weeks ago. Talking about games, however, we do draw the line at generative AI being used for asset creation. Not just because it puts talented people out of jobs. It also significantly increases the amount of worthless slop produced and put on store shelves. Asset flips were already a nightmare, especially in the "Survival Horror" genre, but after what we have witnessed during Steam Next Fest, we almost wish to go back to these simpler times.

Extra Life Game Day is right around the corner! On November 7th, the Co-Optimus Team will join thousands of gamers across the US and Canada to celebrate our fundraising progress and make one final, united push to raise even more money for kids in need. Whether you're a longtime supporter or just discovering Extra Life, we'd love to have you join us! We welcome new team members, donations of any amount, and, of course, your company in Twitch chat while we spend the day playing co-op games. It's a great excuse to hang out, play some games, and make a real difference in the lives of children and their families.

Own a Nintendo Switch 2? Then the last few months were very good in terms of new releases. More and more titles are getting a dedicated release for the console, while older ones are being ported over. This month alone, we've seen 14 co-op titles hitting store shelves - almost half of the amount of PC releases (33)! In total our release calender lists 57 entries across all platforms. So, as always, there's so much to play and not enough time to do it - and autumn has only just begun.

Ahh, the shadow drop. What better way is there to build instant hype than to release a game that nobody was expecting, right here, right now? That's exactly what Square Enix has done today with Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD-. The original Torneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon was released on Super Famicom in Japan way back in 1993. Although the PSOne sequel did get an English version, today's release is the first official English version of the original game.

Traditionally, one of the biggest obstacles to game development is learning to code. That's time consuming! Developing for retro hardware can be even more challenging thanks to the scarcity of modern development tools. Well, the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive homebrew scene is about to explode thanks to the impending release of MD Engine from indie developer Two Black Cats. The MD Engine software will launch on Steam on September 7.

Almost two hundred! That's the number of new entries added to our database in August, many of which were just announced during this year's Gamescom festivities. While everyone keeps eyeing Grand Theft Auto VI (still no co-op announcement!) as the biggest game release of the decade, there will actually be a ton of interesting co-op titles coming out over the next few months and going into 2027.

You know what? Even our Database Master learns something new from time to time! Yes, we were just as surprised as you. Even he didn't know that Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspirary featured a unique co-op mode when it was released back in 2004. But thanks to the games re-release on PlayStation this month, he finally discovered the crazyiness of trying to control the main character in a third-person-shooter with two people: one player handles movement, while the other takes care of weapons and Psi Powers.

What a month, eh? Our database saw an increase of a whopping 212 new entries.  Not just, but mainly, thanks to all the announcements made in the 29 showcases that took place during this year's "Not-E3" season. And yes, our Database Master had to scan each game shown for possible co-op features. That's literally hundreds of games!

June is upon us and with it comes the yearly no-longer-E3 barrage of game showcases. Place your bets now on how many titles with co-op features will be announced! Will it be all of them? Our Database Master hopes not, but why should we care what he wants?

54 titles with co-op features were released across various platforms last month. Yesterday alone, seven games hit the digital store fronts, according to our release calendar. The database here at Co-Optimus saw 131 new entries, boosting the total number of games we track to 16,800.

The first Hades is one of the best roguelikes ever made, and a very successful one at that. It makes sense that Supergiant Games would create a sequel. It even makes sense that they would release the sequel on Steam and Switch before porting to current-gen consoles. Xbox and PlayStation fans continued to hope (and maybe even pray) that Hades II would eventually come their way, and their pleas have now been answered. Hades II is out on PlayStation 5 and the Microsoft ecosystem: Xbox Series, Windows Store, and Game Pass. Now all the big boy consoles can join in the mythological fun!

Co-op gamers like ourselves ate very good this past month: