There sure have been a lot of old school-style shooters releasing on Steam lately. Not that I’m complaining; the old days of Quake and System Shock were a prime time in the history of FPSes, and there’s still plenty that particular era of gaming has to offer, especially when combined with modern design sensibilities. Though, speaking of modern design sensibilities, there is one element of modern shooter design that doesn’t always mesh with old school shooters: multiplayer. On that subject, will Core Decay have multiplayer?
Core Decay is an upcoming shooter being published by 3D Realms, the original publisher of the Duke Nukem series, and more recently, the publisher of throwback shooters like Ion Fury, Graven, and Wrath: Aeon of Ruin. The one thing all three of these games, as well as Core Decay, have in common is that they’re all single-player-only experiences.
Will Core Decay have Multiplayer?
While neither the devs nor 3D Realms have made any concrete statements on the matter of multiplayer in Core Decay, the fact that the Steam page only lists single-player play, as well as their track record, means it’s a fairly safe bet that this game probably won’t have multiplayer functionality.
Core Decay is meant to be an immersive, character-heavy experience. While there is no shortage of flashy weaponry, you’re also encouraged to use nonviolent solutions such as stealth and hacking in a character-building design similar to System Shock. A game designed in this manner wouldn’t really facilitate multiplayer deathmatching, at least not to any notable capacity.
In fairness, with the power of modding, nothing is impossible. Once the game releases, fans may find a way to concoct a multiplayer mode of their own if the devs don’t implement one, but you’ll likely have to check on side channels like Reddit for something like that.
