Sekiro Doesn't Offer Multiplayer, But That Has Its Benefits

Fans of From Software and action-adventure games are likely salivating as we get closer to the launch of the studio's upcoming title, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. While the game looks to feature familiar From design, one crucial element is missing: online multiplayer. Now, in a feature published by Game Informer, the studio's explained why Sekiro won't have online multiplayer.

From's marketing and communications manager, Yasuhiro Kitao, sat down with the publication to dive deep into the studio's upcoming action-adventure game. When asked why Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won't have online multiplayer, Kitao explained it gives them the freedom to create worlds without worrying about how multiple players may interact.

"When creating these playspaces, we don't have to take into consideration how players will operate with one another in these maps, or how they may exploit the playspace by cooperating or something like this," Kitao said. "So it allows us, again, to hone in on the player experience, and really capitalize on that lack of restriction that comes with creating a multiplayer-based game, and let our imagination run wild in these places."

While From is adamant about keeping Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice a single-player focused game, online multiplayer is something we could see from the studio again in the future. "Of course, we at From, we love those online elements," Kitao said. "We love to create our own characters just as much as everyone else. We hope players are looking forward to something in the future where we might go back to that, but for now, Sekiro is very much its own thing."

The feature also revealed that, unlike the Souls games, Sekiro allows you to pause the action.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice's director and FromSoftware's president, has confirmed that the game is "probably even more challenging than previous From games." Since the studio's games are notorious for being punishingly difficult, it can be assumed that the lack of online multiplayer will make the game even more challenging than Miyazaki told us back in June 2018.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is scheduled to release on March 22, 2019 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.