It ain’t all about shooting things mindlessly when you’re playing online or with friends, especially in 2025. Take down monsters, hunt bugs, focus on team-based strategy to escape, or just head into a battle arena with characters from everything like the Simpsons to Kim Kardashian.
Here are the best online multiplayer games you could be playing in 2025
5.) Elden Ring: Nightreign
It’s odd to think that a souls-like delivered one of the most interesting multiplayer games of 2025, and yet it’s exactly what a lot of players were looking for from the series. Now able to take on bosses together, or other players, the mix of PvE and PvP only heightens the tension here as you work with a friend to make it safely and through to the next boss fight; there’s something to be said about the comfort of playing this series with a friend as well.
4.) Battlefield 6
Battlefield 6’s multiplayer was a return to form, delivering the large-scale warfare, destruction, and cinematic spectacle that fans have come to expect and want from this series. It’s the only FPS released in 2025 that can, from moment to moment, make you feel like you’re playing out something from a Michael Bay movie.
3.) Arc Raiders
Arc Raiders’ extraction gameplay was a major new IP in 2025, and its focus on tactical, team-based gameplay makes it a great multiplayer game for 2025.
2.) Helldivers 2
Using the multiplayer component and how players choose to play in a way that makes it affect the game and the narrative means that whenever you sign in to play Helldivers 2, what you’re doing is going to affect something. And when you play with friends, the chaotic nature of the game continues to be one that’ll have you yelling wildly to communicate better.
1.) Fortnite
There are so many ways to play Fortnite, and it constantly feels fresh, which helps friends want to jump in and play together. You can either play it super casually or play to lock in and get as many wins as possible. You can also just mess around in some of the wilder timed events that have taken place throughout the year; there’s just always a reason to pick up Fortnite as an easy-to-play game online with friends or by yourself.
Find all of Explosion Network’s Best of 2025 coverage right here, and be sure to let us know your thoughts on any of our lists in the comments section.
