Party Animals mentioned "online and offline" co-op so fans assumed it had an offline mode, but the devs say it doesn't and that was a "misunderstanding"

Party Animals screenshot
(Image credit: Source Technology)

The developer behind Party Animals has clarified the confusion around its seemingly absent offline mode.

Yesterday, September 20, Party Animals launched to well over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, making it a certified hit. However, it was also flooded with negative reviews on Steam, where players bemoaned the lack of an offline mode, among other issues, something they thought the developer had confirmed before release.

In a new blog post, developer Recreate Games has addressed the confusion. The studio acknowledges the original hint of an offline mode, with a description reading: "Paw it out with your friends both online and offline." The developer writes that its "intention with this sentence was to convey that you can play with your friends remotely (online), or together in the same location using the same device (offline) through split-screen."

"However, it seems this statement led some players to believe that Party Animals supports an offline mode. We regret the misunderstanding and wish to clarify that the game does not have, nor do we plan to introduce, an offline mode. Party Animals currently requires an online connection to play," the blog post from Recreate Games continues.

As such, Party Animals' description no longer bears this sentence. Recreate Games reminds players that Party Animals never had an offline mode in its three rounds of pre-launch testing, but acknowledges that the aforementioned sentence could've been more "thoughtfully worded." English notably isn't the first language of the folks at Recreate Games, and the Chinese description of Party Animals never had this mistake.

Hopefully this change gives players a better idea of what to expect from Party Animals when delving into the, well, party. Apart from this issue, players have also been unhappy with cosmetic prices and server issues – two problems that Recreate Games hasn't addressed just yet.

You can read our full Party Animals review for what we made of the new chaotic family brawler. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

Read more
Palworld
Palworld's multi-million player launch was originally in the hands of just one server guy who was "trying his best"
screenshot from "Palworld ~ More Than Just Pals" trailer showing black marketeer speaking
Palworld dev revisits "totally not real, or maybe real" dating sim Pocketpair teased last year, fully aware of furry fandom: "There is a very large and very vocal community of passionate individuals"
Palworld
Palworld devs faced "so many challenges" in the survival game's first year as pre-launch attention "brought its own difficulties" and post-launch "accusations" were "a lot to handle"
Palworld screenshot showing a young woman with tied-back red hair petting her Pal, a large white and purple Xenogard
Palworld dev reckons "very few companies could survive" a launch like theirs: "A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure, under the negativity"
A screenshot showing Shaggy from Scooby Doo and Superman fighting in MultiVersus.
WB Games' Smash Bros-like MultiVersus is going offline for good a full year after it came back from the dead
Pal wields a massive turret in a screenshot from Palworld
Palworld devs tried, but the "certain franchise plus guns" brand in the West "has stuck with us to this very day despite our best efforts to shake that off"
Latest in Action
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe assassinating target with Tanto skill
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first title update is a hotfix with three lines of patch notes and a download size up to 9GB
Assassin's Creed Shadows Nishinomiya Shrine
All Nishinomiya Shrine locations in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows riddles Naoe answers
All Assassin's Creed Shadows riddle answers for NPC encounters
GTA 6 trailer screenshots showing lucia in an interview room
"GTA 6 is basically a huge meteor, and we will just stay clear of the blast zone": Publishers are in a frenzy over when to release their games to avoid Rockstar
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has been the series' best launch since Valhalla, but that was "a perfect storm we may never see again," says Ubisoft
Latest in News
Lunar Remastered Collection
"Will today’s players still enjoy a game from 30 years ago?": JRPG icon Kei Shigema says he was thrilled to see Lunar getting a remaster even after all this time
Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in The Last of Us episode 3
The Last of Us season 2 showrunners tease a "gorgeous" episode akin to season 1’s Emmy-nominated Bill and Frank story: "Just you wait"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Cyberpunk 2077
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
Muse
Daredevil: Born Again midseason trailer teases Matt Murdock’s violent fight with Muse, including a gory scene straight from the comics
Batman looking over the city during Batman: Arkham City, one of the best PS3 games.
The PS2 Batman Begins game was considered such a "disaster" that Christopher Nolan turned down a Dark Knight-inspired game