Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has firmly positioned itself as a cornerstone of the modern gaming landscape. While it’s not the sole subscription platform available, many consider it the most popular and, arguably, the best in class. Game Pass subscribers enjoy launch day access to every Xbox first-party title, with some third-party surprises sprinkled in.
This setup definitely adds to its allure, but Game Pass’s true success can be tied to its diverse game lineup, which ranges from solo horror tales to PvP thrillers. There’s something for every type of gamer, including those who love co-op experiences. So, which co-op games on Game Pass are worth diving into?
Updated November 25, 2024, by Mark Sammut: Aside from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Xbox Game Pass hasn’t seen a massive influx of new online-only co-op titles. That’s why we’ve added two games that offer both local and online multiplayer options.
Our focus will primarily be on games supporting online co-op, as local co-op alternatives are discussed elsewhere. Still, a few must-play games that offer both experiences will be featured in the article’s conclusion.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6
Zombies Co-Op Is Back
Released on October 25, 2024, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 marked the series’ first Day One debut on Game Pass. While Activision’s hit shooter was always destined to lead 2024’s sales charts, its inclusion in Game Pass gives former fans an easy way to jump back in. Treyarch has seized on this opportunity by delivering a traditional story campaign, returning to the series’ roots rather than experimenting with modern twists that didn’t quite land in previous entries.
Despite its single-player aspects, Black Ops 6’s lifeblood is its multiplayer modes, spanning PvP and co-op. Mainstay modes like Deathmatch and Domination focus on 6v6 battles where teamwork is critical to success. However, it’s the Zombies mode that steals the show for co-op enthusiasts. Modern Warfare 3 shook up the familiar formula, but Black Ops 6 returns to fundamentals, serving up classic Zombies action complete with wave-surviving chaos and an array of weapons and abilities to unlock.
Sea Of Thieves
A Pirate Adventure Meant to Share With Friends
Initially launching to tepid responses, Sea of Thieves has since burgeoned into a staple of multiplayer gaming. Bringing together up to four players, you form a pirate crew for treasure hunts and high-seas adventures, occasionally battling massive sea monsters like the Kraken. While solo pirates exist, they find themselves at a disadvantage as the game thrives on cooperative and competitive interactions.
Five years post-launch, Rare continues to expand Sea of Thieves with new events and treasure, ensuring the world remains fresh and enticing for both new and returning players.
Core Keeper
Fight, Build, and Survive (Alone or With Friends)
Core Keeper, developed by Pugstorm and officially released in August 2024, is a compelling mix of survival, building, and combat elements. This game supports up to eight players in a co-op experience, adding layers of depth and enjoyment. Though primarily pitched as a single-player game, multiplayer significantly enriches the experience, allowing shared exploration and discovery within its vast procedurally generated world.
Though it can feel directionless at first, the solid mechanics of crafting, combat, and construction keep players engaged and rewarded over time. Core Keeper deftly captures that addictive quality unique to the indie survival-crafting genre, with co-op play enhancing its overall appeal.
Remnant 2
Soulslike Shooter Designed With Co-Op in Mind
Available on Xbox Game Pass, both Remnant games offer standout co-op experiences. Though deeply rooted in the Soulslike tradition, Remnant: From the Ashes and Remnant 2 diverge by placing more emphasis on multiplayer. While going solo is an option, co-op is where these games shine, especially the 2023 follow-up Remnant 2.
Building on its predecessor, Remnant 2 tackles some launch-day hiccups but quickly establishes itself as a superior sequel. Players choose a character archetype at the beginning, tailored to specific roles intended to complement each other in co-op, adding depth without overwhelming new players.
Dead Island 2
Just Uncomplicated Zombie-Obliterating Fun
Though receiving lukewarm attention initially, Dead Island 2 found new life on Xbox Game Pass. It may not seem radical on paper, but its gameplay is viscerally satisfying. A dynamic gore system elevates the act of dispatching zombies from mundane to exhilarating, and it ensures the fundamentals are executed flawlessly.
Known largely for its single-player campaigns, Dead Island 2 still offers a seamless co-op feature. Syncing player progress ensures a fair experience for hosts and guests, with co-op sessions opening up early in the game. While the primary idea might be to combat the undead together, players must sync their campaign missions to team up.
Warhammer 40000: Darktide
Challenging Co-Op Campaign for Warhammer 40K Fans
The Warhammer 40K universe is vast, covering many genres. Among recent releases, Darktide stands out, appealing to those enjoying action-packed combat and cooperative play. Set within this beloved universe, it offers players four distinct classes, each offering unique gameplay experiences.
The structure naturally fosters co-op gameplay, launching without a dedicated solo mode. Challenging at times, the campaign demands coordination as party members face off against formidable foes.
Minecraft Legends
Decent Entry-Level Real-Time Strategy Game
Minecraft Legends has carved out a niche as an entry-level RTS, accessible to Minecraft fans and newcomers to strategy games alike. While light on complexity, Legends gives the genre’s classic tropes a hack and slash spin, yielding a fun if initially shallow overall game.
Players seek allies in defeating Piglins and face the option of teaming up online. This multiplayer feature enhances cooperative play without tethering participants too closely, allowing individuality while still supporting collective goals.
Grounded
Survive a Familiar World With a Few Friends
Not entirely like the developer’s past RPG epics, Obsidian’s Grounded places players in a unique survival scenario, shrunken and stranded in a backyard fraught with danger. While suitable and entertaining for solo adventurers, its online co-op shines, allowing access to a shared world without the host’s presence.
Each of the four playable characters helps build immersion and player interaction in multiplayer, enriching the survival experience beyond its single-player scope.
Space Engineers
Challenging but Rewarding Sci-Fi Sandbox
Keen Software House’s Space Engineers presents a sandbox experience of monumental proportions and complexity. Voxel-based creativity spawns player-driven worlds constructed from asteroids and other celestial resources.
While the learning curve is steep, solo beginnings allow players to master the basics before diving into multiplayer environments. Co-op can accommodate four Xbox users, allowing creative collaborations without enforcing teamwork, ensuring unique, varied experiences.
Palworld
Ambitious Blend of Genres
Launched into early access in January 2024, Palworld mixes open-world exploration with survival elements and monster catching, creating something unexpectedly cohesive. The journey unfolds on the Palpagos Islands, where taming Pokémon-like Pals advances both the adventure and survival segments of the game.
Designed for both solo play and online co-op, Palworld allows players to join large multiplayer servers or restrict games to smaller, friend-only setups. While not seamless yet, online play broadens the experience’s possibilities, extending engagement past initial exploration phases.
Payday 2
Classic Heist Game Outshining Payday 3
Despite its age, Payday 2 remains a mainstay in the online co-op world. Designed around the thrill of meticulous heist planning and execution, it provides an engaging and emergent experience for four-player teams.
Each heist feels fresh due to various strategic approaches and a dynamic skill tree system, ensuring a unique challenge every time and securing its spot as an FPS staple among friends.
Conan Exiles
Survival Open-World Game Wearing Many Hats, Including Co-Op
Defying its rocky start, Conan Exiles enjoys enduring popularity through player adaptation and a proactive modding community. Whether tackling single-player campaigns or PvP server adventures, the game morphs to meet various gaming appetites.
Co-op ideally unfolds within private servers, offering the thrill of survival and world-building without the constant disruption of competitive raids. As a multiplayer survival experience, Conan Exiles rewards patience with its rich ecosystem.
World War Z: Aftermath
Blast Through Hordes of Zombies
Building on its predecessor, World War Z: Aftermath elevates Saber Interactive’s co-op zombie shooter by adding fresh content and refining gameplay. While its narrative might be forgettable, the real star is the intense action against relentless undead swarms.
Classes diversify gameplay, catering to various styles and fostering team-based strategy. While solo play shows off its mechanical polish, co-op brings the horde-blasting fun to life, breathing new energy into the game.
Deep Rock Galactic
Group Up, Get In, Grab Resources, Profit
Serving up endless entertainment through procedurally generated underground maps, Deep Rock Galactic shines in co-op play. Each dwarf character class offers distinct roles, enhancing gameplay depth as players work together toward common goals.
While the single-player option exists, the game thrives exponentially in a friend-filled multiplayer session, blending cooperative effort with skill set synergies for unparalleled adventures.
Monster Hunter Rise
Hunters Unite for Capcom’s Most Accessible MH Game
Monster Hunter Rise opens its hunting grounds to groups of four, offering cooperative quests alongside an intriguing solo campaign. Once players master the basics, multiplayer enriches the MH experience, allowing strategic team builds focused on specific monster threats.
These group quests raise the game’s difficulty, yet the franchise’s hallmark accessibility shines through, catering to seasoned hunters and novelty seekers alike.
Halo Infinite
Not Perfect, But It’s Halo
Despite its turbulent journey, Halo Infinite resurrects the series’ core elements in its eventually implemented online co-op. Though local co-op was contentious by omission, the online provision complements a campaign that’s bold and immersive.
Complaints about pacing abound, and open-world sections require coordination, but overall, Halo Infinite’s cooperative and campaign experiences reaffirm its cherished legacy.
The Quarry
A Unique Online Co-Op That Might Not Be for Everyone
Borrowing from cinematic horror, The Quarry builds on Supermassive Games’ interactive narrative style, perfect for both solo and shared experiences. Local co-op maximizes drama by assigning players character responsibilities, while online play encourages communal decision-making with a twist.
Although polarizing, the host-led structure of online play sparks fascinating group dynamics, adding tension without diminishing the horror narrative.
A Way Out & It Takes Two
Local or Online, Hazelight’s Masterpieces Need to Be Played
Hazelight Studios redefined cooperative gaming with A Way Out and It Takes Two, each requiring two-player engagement. A Way Out delivers a tense prison break narrative, demanding collaboration and leveraging character development to forge an emotional bond.
It Takes Two creatively continues this theme in a colorful, imaginative adventure brimming with varied mechanics and strong storytelling. Both games excel regardless of whether the co-op is local or online.
Moving Out 2
Run a Wacky Business Together
Blending laughter and frustration, Moving Out 2 thrives in its bizarre yet humorous undertakings. Tasked with relocating homes—even across dimensions—the sequel embraces a light-hearted flair that exponentially increases its multiplayer appeal over solo endeavors.
Not without its challenges, Moving Out 2’s core relies on cooperative communication and coordination for success, making it an ideal choice for partnership adventures and spontaneous joy.
Diablo 4
Good Solo, Great Co-Op
While divisive, Diablo 4’s addictive combat-loot loop ensures it remains a multiplayer favorite. Online co-op, accommodating four players, surpasses couch play by restoring the full party feature, fusing emotional sociability with campaign co-play.
Despite discussed weaknesses, Diablo 4’s design invites players to harmonize character builds, enriching the tactical depth of group expeditions and enhancing the solo sonata of gameplay with a powerful co-op coda.
