Does Dragon’s Dogma 2 have multiplayer co-op?

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, you don’t adventure alone. Comrades join you. So, we’re looking at whether these pals are AI-only or if Dragon’s Dogma 2 has multiplayer or co-op features.

Your Dragon’s Dogma 2 journey is aided by Pawns who participate in battle, feed you lore, and keep you company throughout the adventure. The same feature was in the original DD, but players wished it had allowed for co-op so they could play with friends. The community hoped this would be rectified in the sequel. 

Now that Dragon’s Dogma 2 has arrived, let’s see if there is any multiplayer or co-op functionality.

Can you play Dragon’s Dogma 2 multiplayer?

Unfortunately, the answer is no, there is no co-op or multiplayer. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is strictly a single-player game.

Despite its set-up lending itself well to a co-op feature, Capcom wants you to enjoy DD2 solo. Pawns are controlled by AI, meaning the closest thing to co-op is the option to recruit Pawns made by other players or share your own via the online network.

Interestingly, not long before the official release, DD2 director Hideaki Itsuno spoke with Automaton about why Capcom isn’t considering any form of multiplayer for Dragon’s Dogma 2.

“The concept of the original game was to incorporate fun gameplay elements not found in conventional offline games while removing all the ‘hassles’ of online games,” he said. “This is one of the basic original ideas of the first game that I don’t plan on straying from.”

So, it seems there is no immediate desire to implement multiplayer or co-op in Dragon’s Dogma 2, or any future iteration, anytime soon.

How do the Pawns work in Dragon’s Dogma 2?

Like in the first game, you can have up to three Pawns in your party.

One of them is a custom character of your own design, and the other two you can recruit either in-game or from other players. Pawns gain experience and grow stronger over the course of the adventure, with their behavior even adapting to your own playstyle, and they can learn new Specializations—along with Vocations.