2023’s Best Indie Game Sea of Stars Is Getting a Couch Co-Op Mode

Sea of Stars was one of last year’s biggest surprise hits, with unanimous praise from critics and players alike. It showed that despite what many big publishers will have you think, single-player games are here to stay, but that doesn’t mean developers can’t have fun mixing up the formula. Sabotage Studio has announced that its hit indie RPG will soon get a three-player couch co-op mode, teasing it with a short gameplay clip.

The three-player mode will be called “Single Player+", letting players fight together with the “Co-op timed hits” mechanic. Sabotage didn't reveal when the update will be released, though, with a gameplay tease, it's bound to be sooner rather than later.

If we had to guess, the co-op mode would most likely launch alongside the game's upcoming DLC "Throes of The Watchmaker" . The DLC has been in development for a few months now and will be available for free to all backers on the game's Kickstarter. The DLC will expand the game's connections to Sabotage's previous game The Messenger, as both games take place in the same universe.

Sabotage Studio also announced that the game has been played by over five million players, though sales numbers haven't been announced. Given that it launched simultaneously on PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass, a first for any game, it's probably better to talk about its success in terms of player count.

It sold over 100,000 copies in one day across all platforms, despite launching on subscription services. To celebrate its success, the game's physical editions were made available thanks to iam8bit. The game went on to win the Best Independent Game award at The Game Awards last year.

Sea of Stars is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.