We’re excited to share new exclusive detail about Wasteland 3’s online co-op on PC and Xbox One, as well as exclusive reveal of the new co-op focused trailer above.

In Wasteland 3’s co-op you can work with a partner to strategize in tactical combat, make decisions on how to navigate the gangs, factions, and cults of Colorado, and how to divvy up their loot. There are also unique moments in the game that can only be pulled off in co-op, like turning in a quest to two rival NPCs at the same time for double the reward. While it’s not a PvP game, there are also unique opportunities to mess with your friend, like spreading rumors about them at your home base.

Playing co-op in Wasteland 3 is as simple as choosing multiplayer from the main menu and inviting a friend. You can also choose to post your game in the public browser, or for PC, connect directly via a friend’s IP. Just keep in mind that the game doesn’t allow crossplay across PC and Xbox One, so you’ll both want to be on the same platform.

Picking Sides

Once you’ve linked up with a co-op buddy, you can choose whether to start a new game or load a save, and then choose your difficulty options. If you’re starting a new game, each player will customize their Ranger before heading off into Colorado. If you’re loading a save further into the game where you have more than two characters, the host will need to divvy them up through squad management—each player always controls a portion of one full Ranger squad. The host can choose which characters each player controls, and how many. Playing with a friend who is new to the genre? You can give them just one or two Rangers to control and lighten their burden.

In most cases the host of a co-op session is going to have control over things like the squad setup, joint conversation options, and driving the Kodiak; however, the host can choose to give the guest control over joint conversation decisions if they want. If you’re going afk to grab a fresh beverage you can, for example, pass conversation control over to them. However, both players have control over their portion of the squad, and both players can loot, shop at merchants independently, and even hold their own conversations with different NPCs at the same time. Whether you’re in lockstep, or try to cover as much of an area as possible separately, the options are there for you to choose how to engage with co-op and the game does the heavy lifting to make sure your decisions have meaning in the world.

Hittin’ the Dusty Trail

Once you’re done playing, the options are open for how each of you want to continue next time. Both the host and guest will have saves from the co-op session they had, and each can separately choose to continue playing that save by themselves, or they could wait and continue playing together later. Say your friend is checking it out on Xbox Game Pass and wants to see your high-level character, you can invite them in for one session, and then continue on without them later on. Your friend will also have a save from that session too and could actually continue playing the game by themselves from your progression point if they choose.

The options are open for how you want to experience the deep, reactive story and engaging tactical combat of Wasteland 3 with friends. Wasteland 3 launches August 28 with Xbox Game Pass, and on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. For the latest on Wasteland 3, stay tuned to Xbox Wire.