Will My Time at Sandrock have multiplayer during early access?

My Time at Sandrock, the highly anticipated sequel to My Time at Portia, was released in early access on May 26 and many fans were surprised to see that there was no option to play the multiplayer mode.

Kickstarter players already have access to both the single-player and multiplayer modes of the game now. Only certain backers were given access and everyone else is made to wait for early access multiplayer betas to get their hands on multiplayer mode.

When will multiplayer be available in My Time at Sandrock?

On May 27, Pathea released a video explaining more about the multiplayer mode in My Time at Sandrock. In it, My Time at Sandrock developer Aaron said there will be a test demo for multiplayer that is coming this August. Then, in late August or September, there will be a global test for all players for a limited amount of time. After that, they’ll add more content, fix bugs, and optimize the game for a second test period in October. After the second test and another round of bug fixes, multiplayer will be added before the end of 2022.

In reaction to player feedback shortly after the release of early access, Pathea apologized that it wasn’t included in the game at the beginning and explained that all press releases and promotional content explained that it wouldn’t. But fans were still confused at the game’s lack of multiplayer.

What will co-op mode be like in My Time at Sandrock?

Game director Xu Zhi explained that the multiplayer mode is going to be four players trying to create the best Commerce Guild that they can in a small, pre-Sandrock town. The team is working on building the gameplay, including group building projects, all of the gameplay mechanics that come with having multiple players on the same map, and functionality and synchronization issues.

In the video, Zhi also gave a little bit of insight as to what the plot will be for multiplayer.

“The multiplayer game will be mainly focused on city building and multiplayer interaction with less NPC interaction,” Zhi said. “However, it will have connections with the plot of the single-player mode. After you’ve finished the entire game, both multiplayer mode and single-player mode, you will have experienced a much more complete story.”

Timelines for betas like these are always fluid depending on what kind of issues the development team runs into, so fans should keep an eye on My Time at Sandrock social media to keep up to date on when multiplayer testing periods will take place.