The creative director of the Polish studio The Astronauts, Adrian Chmielarz, in response to a complaint from user X, explained why the team does not want to add multiplayer to their fantasy role-playing shooter Witchfire.
Image source: ArtStation (Aleksandra Skiba)
According to Jhin_Frost, The Astronauts is missing out on a lot by not providing Witchfire with multiplayer or co-op: “Most people just aren’t interested in PvE games.”
In a publication on The Astronauts website, Khmelazh refuted the quoted statement by Jhin_Frost – history knows many examples of successful single-player games (including Hades) – and also motivated Witchfire’s refusal to play multiplayer.
Image source: The Astronauts
According to Chmielarz, there are a lot of good co-op shooters on the market right now (Destiny 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Darktide/Vermintide, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2), while there is a shortage of single-player fantasy RPG shooters.
«So we’d rather focus on making the best single-player experience possible than getting distracted by co-op. We believe that by sticking to our vision, we can create something special and resonate with players looking for a deep, personal experience,” explained Chmielarz.
Image source: The Astronauts
The studio has mentioned in the past that it wouldn’t rule out experimenting with a co-op mode for Witchfire in the future, but cautioned against counting on it since the game was originally designed for single-player play.
Witchfire early access started last fall on EGS, the game reached Steam on September 23, 2024, and version 1.0 is planned for release at the end of 2025. The project development plan is shown in the image below.
Image source: The Astronauts