Best multiplayer games to buy your friends in the 2025 Steam Summer Sale

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 Escape Together.

Time is really running out — the 2025 Steam Summer Sale is almost over, and by the time you read this, there are only going to be a few hours left. Now, when it comes to major single-player titles, most of us do end up getting those anyway, either on Steam or through physical versions for consoles. For me, the Summer Sale is all about buying multiplayer titles that I wouldn't otherwise buy because they're — most probably — not in my friends' libraries either.

However, this is when you can just up and buy two copies instead of one, just to be able to gift your friends a copy of a multiplayer game you've been meaning to try, without blowing a crater in your wallet. From older games that are available at dirt-cheap rates today, to newer titles that you should definitely be giving a whirl in a party with your closest friends — the Summer Sale has it all, but not for long.

Two people gaming while sitting on a sofa while Split Fiction plays in the background.

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8 Chained Together ($4)

Buy your friends this game to rage at them

Chained Together is a multiplayer adventure game that became the talk of the town last year in 2024. You and your friends are, as the title suggests, chained together, and the objective is to escape hell together. As you keep progressing through the game's plethora of physical obstacles and diverse worlds, you'll have to execute miraculous feats of timing, synchronization, and cooperation to progress forward.

Of course, the biggest challenge, as I can personally testify, is to not crash out, making sure that your neighbors don't wake up, or your friends don't feel so bad that they quit playing. For less than $10, you could get two copies of the game, with one to gift to your friend. If there's more in the party, then the two of you could simply bully the third one into getting the game, so no biggie there, either.

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Chained Together

Systems

Released June 19, 2024

ESRB t

Developer(s) Anegar Games

Publisher(s) Anegar Games

Engine Unreal Engine

Multiplayer Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op

7 Borderlands 3 ($3)

Before the next game comes along, this one will get you into the franchise for dirt cheap

With Borderlands 4 right around the corner, my excitement and expectations are both high. Now, Borderlands 3 might have stumbled significantly in the writing and world-building department, but it's still the entry with the most solid combat and gunplay in the franchise.

The multiplayer component of the game is what you'd be buying it for, because, let's face it — you've either played through the series, or you're not going to start at the third one. Either way, if you're looking for some solid gunplay that requires you to put your personality into your weapons by mixing and matching things, a visual aesthetic that will never age, and an enjoyable time, Borderlands 3 is a game you should absolutely be adding to your friends' libraries. It's only $3 per copy, so go crazy.

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Borderlands 3

Released September 13, 2019

ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language

Developer(s) Gearbox Software

Publisher(s) 2K Games

Engine Unreal Engine 4

Multiplayer Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op

Xbox Game Pass logo with a collage of games in the background

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6 The Outlast Trials ($16)

One of the best horror co-op games, hands down

If you're in a "talking about The Outlast Trials competition" and you're facing me, you might as well pack things up and go home. One of my favorite multiplayer titles of all time, The Outlast Trials marries the handicam-heavy, night-vision-dependent gameplay of the fantastic Outlast games with a multiplayer aspect that is impressively implemented.

In this game, you and your friends are going to be stuck in different locales with a stalker-type enemy chasing you, all while you have to run through a bevy of objectives, collaborating, managing your inventories together, and making sure you don't let the darkness get to you. Another entry in the fantastic co-op horror genre that I so love, The Outlast Trials is a $40 game that is now available for just $16, and is a title you definitely need to get two of and try out with a friend ASAP.

Product image for the game The Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials

Released May 18, 2023

ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due TO Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Nudity, Drug Reference, Strong Language

Developer(s) Red Barrels

Publisher(s) Red Barrels

Engine Unreal Engine 4

Multiplayer Online Multiplayer

5 The Forest ($4)

It's a cozy adventure with your friends... until the monsters attack

Now, I would've gone ahead and mentioned Sons of the Forest, the sequel, but the first game, The Forest, for what it is today, is a stellar multiplayer experience you can get lost in with a friend. You can play the game co-op with a friend, of course, as you survive in a forest infested with cannibalistic creatures, all while foraging, hunting, and crafting to stay alive. Plus, we're talking two copies for less than the price of one copy of the sequel.

There's a story here, of course, to uncover, but even without it, the experience of being out in the wildlife with a friend while the two of you figure out how to survive is a wholesome and warm experience... provided you forget about the weird, crazy monsters trying to eat you.

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The Forest

Released April 30, 2018

ESRB M For Mature 17+ Due To Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity

Developer(s) Endnight Games

Publisher(s) Endnight Games

Engine Unity

Multiplayer Online Co-Op

Best multiplayer games to buy in Steam Summer Sale 2025.

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4 Deep Rock Galactic ($10)

Go mining on alien planets through space

Deep Rock Galactic is what you get when you mix dwarves, mining, sci-fi horror, and four-player co-op into one perfect underground package. Deep Rock Galactic puts you and your friends in the role of gun-toting space miners, digging through alien-infested caves and hoarding loot.

The missions are punchy, the biomes are dynamic, and the voice lines? Chef's kiss. Heck, if you take a shot every time someone yells "rock and stone!", you just might wake up with an IV attached to your arm. A truly fun game that becomes massively more enjoyable with friends, Deep Rock Galactic is one game you must play if you haven't, and share the joy with your friends.

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Deep Rock Galactic

Released May 13, 2020

ESRB T for Teen due to Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence

Developer(s) Ghost Ship Games

Publisher(s) Coffee Stain Publishing

Engine Unreal Engine 4

Multiplayer Online Co-Op

3 Riders Republic ($4)

Karting, skiing, racing, and flying — it's all better with friends

Four dollars. That's the price of admission to an exhilarating multiplayer adventure where you and your friends could be cycling hard on a mountain road, and flying down the side of the same mountain wearing a wingsuit the next. If all of those Red Bull ads were a game, it would be Riders Republic.

An extremely polished massively-multiplayer racing game for you and your friends to go karting while trash talking and nudging each other in-game, Riders Republic, for its current sale price of $4, is an absolute steal for the fun it guarantees. You could be biking, flying, skiing, or even falling down, but you'll do it all stylishly, and it will be glorious as your headset fills with the sound of your friends' laughter.

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Riders Republic

Released October 28, 2021

ESRB T For Teen

Developer(s) Ubisoft Annecy

Publisher(s) Ubisoft

Engine anvilnext

Multiplayer Online Multiplayer

2 Backrooms: Escape Together ($7)

Keep your cameras out and your energy drinks ready

Another fantastic horror co-op adventure I can never get enough of, Backrooms: Escape Together started off as a solo dev project, with the aim of bringing the Backrooms' lore to Unreal Engine 5. Backrooms: Escape Together is a well-polished title that works flawlessly in both single-player and multiplayer modes, and gives you and your friends nine different, intricately-crafted levels to explore.

For $14, you can jump right into the game with a friend, and from start to finish, I can personally assure you that there's just nothing quite like the first campaign. ​​​​​​​

 Escape Together.

Released October 18, 2022

Developer(s) Triiodide Studios

Publisher(s) Triiodide Studios

Engine Unreal Engine 5

Platform(s) PC

Developed on Unreal Engine 5, Backrooms: Escape Together is a co-op survival horror game where you and your friends must explore eerie, endless maze-like levels and work together to escape terrifying entities and madness.

1 Don't Starve Together ($5)

An incredible game that remains just as fun as it was a decade ago

Yes, the art style is creepy. Yes, everything's trying to kill you. And yes, the title is a warning. But Don't Starve Together also happens to be one of the most unforgettable co-op survival games ever made. The game throws you and a friend into a bizarre, gothic wilderness, and you must craft, forage, and fight to survive. Most importantly, however, you must not lose your mind (literally).

Don't Starve Together is the kind of game where each new day survived feels like a small miracle, and death never stops being hilarious. For $5 at the Summer Sale, it's about time you bought the game and added it to a friend's library, too.

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Don't Starve Together

Released December 15, 2014

ESRB T For Teen Due To Fantasy Violence, Crude Humor

Developer(s) Klei Entertainment

Publisher(s) Klei Entertainment

Engine Lua

Time is running out to play these great titles with a friend for cheap

The Summer Sale is the best excuse to drag your friends into games they didn't know they needed.

There's no better feeling than waking up the morning after a great multiplayer session, texting the squad about last night and making jokes and references about the chaos, the laughter, and the last-minute clutch saves still fresh in your mind.

If you can have that kind of joy with just a few bucks and a gifted copy or two? It's a no-brainer. The Steam Summer Sale is the best excuse to drag your friends into games they didn't know they needed. So, buy two, or three, and keep the party going.

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