2025's Multiplayer Adventures: The 5 Best Survival Games Releasing This Year

There’s nothing quite like sinking your teeth into a new survival game; navigating unique environments, learning new mechanics, and discovering the best ways to harvest materials, it’s all so engaging. Honestly, the only thing that makes it better is doing it with friends (that’s one of the big reasons Minecraft blew up like it did). Luckily, there are some incredible games slated for this year. From sailing through the skies in massive cooperative vessels to diving deep into alien oceans with friends, 2025’s releases will have plenty of opportunities for creating memories with your crew. Let’s dive into the five most promising multiplayer survival experiences coming your way.

1. Subnautica 2 (Early Access 2025)

The original Subnautica was a masterpiece of solo underwater exploration, but fans have been begging for multiplayer since day one. Well, Unknown Worlds heard our pleas, and Subnautica 2 is finally letting us bring friends along for the dive. Supporting up to four players in co-op, this sequel isn’t just adding multiplayer – it’s building its entire experience around shared discovery. The game’s new genetic modification system opens up fascinating possibilities for team coordination. Imagine your friend developing bioluminescent abilities to light the way through dark trenches, while you’ve modified yourself to withstand extreme pressures, allowing for deeper exploration. Your third teammate might focus on adaptations that help with resource gathering, creating a perfectly balanced deep-sea expedition team. Too much water for your tastes? No worries! Sand’s got your back.

2. Sand (Early Access 2025)

If you’ve ever wanted to command a massive walking fortress with your friends in a Mad-Max style wasteland, Sand is the perfect game for you. The game’s Tramplers – enormous mobile bases that serve as both home and weapon platform – are impressive enough solo, but with up to eight players working together, these mechanical behemoths become truly awe-inspiring. Coordinating a Trampler expedition is like running a small city on legs. While some crew members manage weapons systems and navigate through the mystical anomalies that dot the landscape, others might be maintaining the internal systems or scouting ahead for resources. The blend of PvE and PvP elements means your crew needs to stay sharp – other players’ Tramplers might be friendly traders or potential threats. The customization system deserves special mention. Every upgrade and weapon platform you add to your Trampler can be personalized, letting your crew express their collective creativity. There’s nothing quite like rolling up to a trading post in a Trampler that perfectly represents your team’s personality – even if that personality is just an excessive number of flamethrowers. Like the apocalypse vibe but not feeling all the sand? Rooted might be up your alley.

3. Rooted (In Development)

Headlight Studio’s Rooted drops players into the year 2100, where a devastating bacteriological war has forever changed the face of civilization. This ambitious survival game strikes a careful balance between individual survival challenges and the broader goal of contributing to humanity’s resurgence. What sets Rooted apart is its thoughtful blend of urban and rural environments. Abandoned cities offer valuable scavenging opportunities but come with increased risks, while the more tranquil rural areas provide safer spaces for resource gathering and base building. The game’s co-op mode, complete with built-in proximity chat, transforms these environmental challenges into shared adventures. Players will need to master intricate crafting systems and realistic survival mechanics to thrive in this post-apocalyptic world. Whether you’re constructing elaborate shelters, crafting essential tools and weapons, or exploring the diverse biomes, Rooted promises a deep and engaging survival experience that works equally well solo or with friends. Post apocalyptic Sci-fi not really your thing? Stormforge is offering that classic fantasy RPG experience.

4. Stormforge (Expected 2025)

Stormforge takes the standard survival formula and electrifies it with its innovative storm system. These aren’t your regular rain-and-wind affairs – the storms in Sorana are both a devastating threat and valuable resource, forcing players to make tough decisions as a group. Do you weather the storm in your reinforced base, or risk exposure to harvest its energy? The game’s modding system is poised to create one of the most vibrant communities in the survival genre. With support for up to eight players in co-op, we’re bound to see incredible creations as players combine their creativity with the game’s RPG elements. Imagine custom storm shelters, innovative resource-gathering mechanisms, and entirely new ways to harness the power of the tempest. Plus the procedurally generated open world ensures that every expedition with your friends will be unique. Whether you’re building an elaborate network of interconnected bases or embarking on dangerous resource-gathering missions, Stormforge’s dynamic environment keeps everyone on their toes. Speaking of dynamic environments, have you ever wanted to pilot a sky island?

5. Aloft (Launching January 15, 2025)

January is bringing us the most ambitious take yet on cooperative base building. Aloft isn’t content with just letting you build on solid ground – it hands you and your friends the keys to entire floating islands. The game’s skyship construction system transforms these aerial chunks of paradise into mobile bases that would make even Studio Ghibli proud. Once you and your friends have transformed a sky island into a sky home, you can pilot it across the vast skies in search of resources. But be careful! Each island has its own ecosystem and overharvesting can cause it to collapse. If your crew is feeling particularly virtuous, keep an eye out for the sickly looking islands. A fungal corruption has started to spread, but you have the opportunity to fight the fungal foes and restore balance to the sky.

The Future of Multiplayer Survival

These five games represent more than just new entries in the survival genre – they’re pushing the boundaries of what cooperative gameplay can be. From Aloft’s sky-high adventures to Rooted’s civilization-building, each offers a unique take on the shared survival experience. For gaming groups looking to explore these new frontiers together, flexible server solutions will be key. Features like AleForge’s seamless server switching let you hop between games without missing a beat, while the ability to split servers keeps everyone happy even when the group wants to try different games. If your group is tired of being forced to pay for another server every time a new game comes out or there’s a new update to an old favorite, check out AleForge’s hosting plans. There’s plenty of games to choose from and we’re always adding more!