Sackboy: A Big Adventure suddenly became a bit smaller – at least on launch day. With less than a week until it releases alongside the PS5 on November 12, Sumo Digital’s Design Director Ned Waterhouse has taken to PlayStation Blog to announce the game won’t support online multiplayer on day one. Instead, the game’s online functionality will be arriving via a patch “by the end of 2020”.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to delay the full online multiplayer functionality within Sackboy: A Big Adventure. The team have been working hard to ensure that online is the very best experience it can be for players and we just need a little more time to get it right so you can enjoy it to the fullest with your friends and family.”
Sackboy: A Big Adventure takes place in the Little Big Planet universe and is being made by Sumo Digital, who also developed the third game in the series. Being released simultaneously on PS5 and PS4, the game switches perspectives to 3D and focuses entirely on its platforming gameplay, doing away with the level-creation aspect from previous entries. Up to four people can play through the entire game in co-operative multiplayer, with there also being specially designed co-op levels and mechanics to enrich the social experience.
This makes the announcement of no online multiplayer at launch a disappointing one. Couch co-op will still be available to anyone picking up the game on release day, but cross-save and cross-play between the two-generational versions of the game will also be included in the later patch. In a year when so many people have turned to online multiplayer games as a way to connect, it’s unfortunate that Sackboy: A Big Adventure won’t have that option available when it comes out. No specific date has been given for when the patch will go live.
Hope you can afford multiple DualSense controllers to play the special co-op levels.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure will be releasing on PS5 and PS4 on November 12, 2020. For more news on another PS5 launch game, check out how the character creator and photo mode work in the Demon’s Souls remake.
