Multiplayer

Overview

Solarpunk supports online co-op multiplayer for up to 4 players. Players can work together to build, manage farms, explore islands, and set up automation chains as a team. The game is also fully playable solo.

Personal Inventory and Airship

In co-op, each player keeps their own inventory, and each player has their own airship rather than sharing a single group vessel. Players can choose to build a base together or work on separate projects, then meet up and combine their efforts.

Cross-Play

Cross-play was unavailable at the June 8 launch. Version 1.3.0-304818 introduced crossplay on Steam on September 30, 2026, alongside invite codes and a revised multiplayer interface. All players must have the same game version to join a session.

Before that release, the developers announced cross-platform play on June 23 as groundwork for further multiplayer improvements. The goal was to connect PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch 2 players. They slowed the larger update cadence while building the foundation and did not promise a date at that stage.

The July 3 update clarified that crossplay development ran in parallel with bug fixes and new content. The multiplayer rework was also intended to address unreliable connections between players on the same platform. These statements describe the work leading up to the September release.

An August preview explained the separate technical requirements of Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo, and said crossplay work had begun before launch. On September 30 the console versions were still waiting for platform approval and rollout. Their matching live builds have not been confirmed as of October 8, so the Steam release does not establish that every platform can currently connect.

Co-Op Gameplay

Because the game has no combat, co-op is cooperative in the most literal sense: players divide up the peaceful tasks of running a sky-island home. Common ways groups split the work include:

• One player manages farming and cooking, supplying the group with food and temporary bonuses.

• One player focuses on building and base expansion.

• One player handles automation and energy management.

• One player explores new islands by airship and gathers distant resources.

Controller Support

Solarpunk supports controllers, which suits the console versions handled by Mi'pu'mi Games on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Pre-Launch Multiplayer History

Co-op was a central part of the design from the Kickstarter campaign in 2023, but it was not always part of the planned launch. Earlier in development the team focused on the solo loop, and online co-op was brought into the launch plan later in development. In late 2025 the team announced that the launch was moving into 2026 specifically to give multiplayer the time it needed to ship in good shape, rather than going out alongside an unfinished co-op layer.

That decision shaped how the four-player mode works at launch. Each player gets their own inventory and their own airship, so groups can split up across multiple islands without queuing on shared resources. There is no shared bank and no shared airship in co-op.

Hosting and Inviting

There is no separate multiplayer world type. You create a world the same way you would for solo play, then open it up from inside the game:

• Create a world as usual and load into it.

• Open the menu with Esc, then choose Host Game.

• Select Invite Friends and pick a friend from your friends list.

The friend then joins your hosted world. Because hosting is a switch on an existing save rather than a separate mode, a solo world can be opened to friends at any point without starting over.

Session Control

The peer-to-peer model is the reason a world cannot keep running while the host is offline. It also means the world lives with the host's save, so progress made by visitors stays in the host's world rather than travelling home with them.

If an Invite Does Not Arrive

On PC, invites are delivered through the Steam overlay, so the overlay has to be enabled both for Solarpunk specifically and globally in the Steam settings before the in-game Invite Friends button can open the friends list. If Steam reports that an invite was sent but nothing arrives, exchanging a few ordinary chat messages with that friend first and then re-sending is the workaround the developers recommend, because the platform can silently filter invites between accounts that have never talked. A working invite shows up in the friend's Steam chat as a Solarpunk banner with a play button.

Multiplayer Quick Reference

Tips for Co-Op Sessions

• Agree on who owns what before placing big builds. Each player has their own inventory, but the world is shared, so two people stacking conflicting designs on the same plot wastes materials.

• Check that everyone has the same game version before using crossplay. If a console has not received the matching update, do not assume it can join the updated Steam build.

• Send one player out by airship on a long resource trip while others stay home to tend crops or run automation chains. Because there is no combat, work-splitting is the main optimisation in co-op.

Invite Codes and Player Controls

In version 1.3.0, players can join sessions through invite codes and view the player list from the in-game menu. Hosts can kick or ban players, and a failed kick produces an error message. The updated interface adds these controls to the existing hosted co-op system.