FromSoftware Explains Lack of Sekiro Shadows Die Twice Multiplayer

Unlike FromSoftware’s Souls franchise, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will not feature online multiplayer. Therefore, players can neither leave behind notes for others, nor can someone summon another player for help with a boss battle. In an interview with Game Informer, FromSoftware explained why this mode of play was ditched for its upcoming action title.

The studio’s Manager of Marketing and Communications, Yasuhiro Kitao, told Game Informer:

Of course, we at From, we love those online elements. 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.

Based on Kitao’s statement, it seems FromSoftware isn’t entirely abandoning multiplayer. While Sekiro lacks such components, future titles may see the studio return to integrating online connectivity into its experiences. Interestingly, Sekiro’s absence of multiplayer means From is already cultivating new ways for players to interact with its games. No multiplayer allows for pause button implementation, making Sekiro quite different from Souls games with regards to how in-game menus are juggled.

Additionally, co-op’s absence has allowed FromSoftware to craft boss fights with only a single player in mind. The same can be said for Sekiro’s maps. Areas in the game have been designed without the developer’s having to account for more than one player existing in the space at once. On this, Kitao noted the following,

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. 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.

Other news to come out of the Game Informer deep dive is how progression works in Sekiro. Instead of creating character builds, as was popular with Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Sekiro will have players choose their preferred style of play based on skill trees.