Rage 2 Has No Multiplayer, But Will Have "A Social Component"

Bethesda and Avalanche Studios' Rage 2 will not have multiplayer when it launches next year, but it will have some type of "social component."

According to id Software's – co-developers on the project and the team behind the first Rage – studio boss Tim Willits, Rage 2 has multiplayer, but it's not your typical multiplayer, it's some type of social component, because the team knows "community is important." Or, in short, it doesn't have multiplayer in the traditional sense, but it has something social.

"We will have a social component but it's not your typical multiplayer," said Willits while speaking to Eurogamer. "We're not quite ready to talk about it but we understand community is important, and we understand connecting with other gamers is important. But there's not a true what I call 'classic' multiplayer, so you're not running around together with your friends, because we feel we have enough hours of entertainment for your money. We feel like we have a good offering."

Confirmed: no raging with your friends. Willits also commented on the game's post-launch content:

"Our way of thinking is making the tail of the game longer," Willits said today. "Our fans put hundreds of hours of their lives into the game and we want to give them an experience worth their time. We have plans to do all sorts of things: free plus paid updates and obviously some dynamic elements."

While it was previously confirmed that the game won't have any loot boxes, it wasn't confirmed it won't have microtransactions. And thus, Eurogamer asked Willits about whether or not microtransactions will rear their head, to which the developer replied:

"Ah... I don't know yet. You need to be careful when you say things - like 'loot boxes'. 'Argh oh my god loot boxes!' We won't have loot boxes but yes we are trying to figure out how it will work. It's a balance: you don't want people to feel like you're trying to chase them for money but you want to give people the opportunity to have the experience they want and to extend that tail, so we're still working some of those plans out."

It sounds like Avalanche Studios and co. have big plans for the post-launch period of Rage 2, but it perhaps hasn't ironed out all the details yet.

Rage 2 is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It is scheduled to release sometime during Spring 2019. For more on the game, including a brand-new gameplay trailer, click here.