Independent developer Moon Studios (known for the Ori franchise) unveiled the launch date of No Rest for the Wicked Together, the long-awaited online co-op update for the action RPG currently in early access, during the latest 'Wicked Inside' livestream. The patch will go live on January 22, 2026, but you can test it right now thanks to a limited time Open Beta test that runs through Monday, December 22.
The developers have introduced the co-op implementation as a response to the structural limitations inherent in contemporary action RPG multiplayer modes. According to Moon Studios founder and CEO Thomas Mahler, each of the current modes, like host-guest, adding random players, or summoning them FromSoftware-style, fails because they lack "the feeling that we think most players always desire to have when playing an RPG together with others."
The design the studio settled on is, instead, a combination of the systemic depth and meaningful personal interaction of traditional ARPGs with the persistent, shared-world architecture of MMORPGs, while avoiding the subscription requirements and always-online dependencies of the latter. The ambitious goal is to evoke "the magical feeling of playing your very first D&D campaign".
From a technical standpoint, No Rest for the Wicked Together operates through persistent shared realms. When a player first creates a realm and invites friends, that realm becomes permanently accessible, independent of any host's connection status. This is akin to Minecraft's realm model. Up to four players can simultaneously inhabit a specific realm. With this structure, one player may undertake quests solo while companions are offline, and their actions remain visible upon their friends' eventual return. Community chests serve as asynchronous trading mechanisms, which is particularly valuable when fellow players have different playing schedules.
Moreover, rather than individuals owning separate residences, the party collectively purchases a shared home and establishes granular permissions: full access for some chests, private storage for others, shared crafting tables and refineries available to all members. Moon Studios also confirmed that the Crucible, the roguelike area that was originally revamped shortly after the early access debut, supports full cooperative play. When it comes to combat, the developers warned that enemies and bosses in multiplayer get new AI behaviours, so they may require tactical adjustments to be defeated.
While No Rest for the Wicked Together is clearly focused on co-op multiplayer functionality, the patch will also introduce various improvements that will be equally interesting to those who prefer to play solo. For example, higher-tier items now guarantee superior enchantment rolls with increased slot quantities; weapons now possess random critical strike chances; all enemies now support backstab mechanics; the bows' projectile behavior now fundamentally changes based on the equipped quiver type; the hardest difficulty tier introduces higher enemy density, based on community feedback.
No Rest for the Wicked launched in April 2024 on early access and immediately showed a lot of potential. However, it didn't quite achieve the same level of success the studio had hoped for. Even though SteamDB suggests sales are between a million and a million and a half units, Moon Studios founder and CEO Thomas Mahler issued a desperate plea to its community, asking for help to improve the Steam user review score, although he later clarified that the studio was not actually in immediate danger of closing down.
The game still doesn't have a launch window for version 1.0. When the full game launches, Moon Studios plans to release it on consoles as well, although they mentioned a while back that Xbox might be skipped due to 'market conditions' (the platform's declining sales). No Rest for the Wicked is currently 30% off as part of the Steam Winter Sale, by the way.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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