2013 highlight Risk of Rain is getting a gorgeous remake with "revamped multiplayer"

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Risk of Rain Returns brings a gorgeous visual overhaul and new content inspired by the sequel

Risk of Rain Returns
(Image credit: Hopoo Games/Gearbox Publishing)

One of the most beloved indie roguelikes ever created is getting a remake, and Risk of Rain Returns aims to fix the original game's most nagging issues alongside a host of new content and a visual overhaul.

Perhaps most notably, Risk of Rain Returns will introduce "revamped multiplayer, so there's no more messing with router settings like in Risk of Rain 1," as the devs explain in a new video. The original Risk of Rain hails from an era of PC indie games that had not yet fully embraced the convenient multiplayer infrastructure that we've gotten used to over the past decade. Not having to mess with port-forwarding to set up a co-op game will be a major blessing for PC players in the future.

Even aside from the multiplayer update, the devs promise this isn't "just a lick of paint on an old classic." All the old content from Risk of Rain 1 is returning with "countless rebalancing and gameplay tweaks," alongside new survivors, new abilities for old survivors, new enemies, interactables, stage variants, and new items, some of which are coming from Risk of Rain 2.

Risk of Rain Returns "has an updated codebase so we'll be able to update and add to the game features that weren't previously possible." You might recall that Gearbox bought the Risk of Rain IP last month. Original developer Hopoo Games will remain in the lead on Risk of Rain Returns, but any future Risk of Rain games will be developed and published by Gearbox.

Risk of Rain Returns is due to hit PC and Switch at an unspecified date in 2023.

That's one more to add to our list of new games for 2023.

Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.