No Rest for the Wicked Together Co Op Update Launches January 22 2026

Moon Studios, the independent developer best known for the Ori franchise, has officially confirmed the launch date for No Rest for the Wicked Together, the long awaited online co op update for its action RPG currently in early access. The announcement was made during the latest Wicked Inside livestream, with the update scheduled to go live on January 22 2026. Players eager to try the new features early can already participate in a limited time open beta test running until Monday, December 22.

The Together update represents a major structural shift in how multiplayer is handled in No Rest for the Wicked. According to Moon Studios founder and chief executive officer Thomas Mahler, the team deliberately avoided traditional action RPG multiplayer approaches such as host guest sessions, random matchmaking, or summon based systems inspired by FromSoftware titles. Mahler explained that these models fail to deliver what many players truly want when playing an RPG together, a persistent sense of shared progression and meaningful cooperation.

Instead, Moon Studios has designed a system that blends the systemic depth of classic action RPGs with the persistent shared world philosophy typically associated with MMORPGs, while avoiding subscriptions and strict always online requirements. The studio’s stated goal is to recreate what Mahler described as the magical feeling of playing a first Dungeons and Dragons campaign with friends.

From a technical perspective, No Rest for the Wicked Together is built around persistent shared realms. When a player creates a realm and invites friends, that realm remains permanently available, regardless of whether the original creator is online. This design is similar in spirit to Minecraft realms. Each realm can host up to four players at the same time, and progression continues even when party members are offline. One player may complete quests alone, while others return later to see the world permanently altered by those actions.

To support asynchronous play, community chests function as shared trading hubs, allowing players with different schedules to exchange items and resources without being online simultaneously. Housing is also fully shared. Rather than each player owning a separate home, the group purchases a single shared residence. Permissions can then be customized, enabling shared crafting tables and refineries, private storage for specific members, and full access chests for others.

Moon Studios also confirmed that the Crucible, the roguelike inspired endgame area that was reworked shortly after early access launch, fully supports cooperative play. Combat balance has been adjusted accordingly, as enemies and bosses gain new artificial intelligence behaviors in multiplayer scenarios, requiring different tactics compared to solo play.

While the Together update is centered on cooperative gameplay, it also introduces a wide range of changes that benefit solo players. Higher tier equipment now guarantees better enchantment rolls with increased slot counts. Weapons feature randomized critical strike chances. All enemies now support backstab mechanics. Bow projectile behavior dynamically changes depending on the equipped quiver type. Additionally, the highest difficulty tier now features increased enemy density, a direct response to community feedback.

Moon Studios shared additional footage highlighting these changes in a dedicated video presentation, available via the official gameplay showcase.

No Rest for the Wicked originally launched in early access in April 2024 and immediately drew attention for its art direction, combat systems, and ambition. Despite strong interest, the game did not reach the level of success the studio initially hoped for. Public Steam data suggests sales between one million and one and a half million units. Earlier this year, Mahler publicly asked the community to help improve the game’s Steam user review score, later clarifying that the studio was not in immediate danger of shutting down.

The game still does not have a confirmed release window for version one point zero. Moon Studios has stated that the full release will arrive on consoles alongside PC, although the team previously indicated that Xbox may be skipped due to current market conditions and declining platform sales. As of now, No Rest for the Wicked is also available at a thirty percent discount as part of the Steam Winter Sale.

With the Together update, Moon Studios is making its most ambitious move yet to redefine cooperative play in action RPGs, potentially reshaping how shared progression works in the genre going forward.

Do you think No Rest for the Wicked Together’s persistent realm design could set a new standard for co op RPGs, or is it too ambitious for a smaller studio to sustain long term?