The long-awaited multiplayer update to legendary roguelike The Binding of Isaac is now less than two weeks away, and the game's developer is celebrating with an additional balance pass - albeit one that comes with a vague touch of mockery.
In a tweet last night, The Binding of Isaac developer Edmund McMillen confirmed that more than 13 years after the roguelike's original release, the Isaac Online multiplayer update will release for free on November 18. "Isaac Online will feature a full online co-op mode" for 2-4 players, McMillen explains, noting that players will have access to "completion markers" to note their co-op progress.
While the Binding of Isaac multiplayer mode has been teased for a while, it's not the only thing that the update will feature. McMillen says that it will also include "a considerable balance update that heavily focuses on buffing items you guys believe are lackluster/bad."
Isaac online will feature a full online co-op mode ( with completion markers ) along side a considerable balance update that heavily focuses on buffing items you guys believe are lackluster/bad.November 4, 2024
Now, I'll be the first to admit that in the many hundreds of hours I've spent with The Binding of Isaac, there are certainly some items I prefer to have over others. That said, I can't help but feel a little bit stung by the suggestion that McMillen is buffing items that the community simply believes to be lackluster or bad. If nothing else, there's the fairly strong implication here that the community is wrong, and that these items might be great in the right hands. It's a tiny-veiled hint of the 'git gud' mentality that's certainly appropriate to Isaac, but hurts me nonetheless.
The journey to The Binding of Isaac's multiplayer update has been slightly rocky, not least because a test earlier this year had to be taken down after impatient fans hacked their way in. It's also being worked on alongside McMillen's next game, an even longer-awaited cat-eugenics turn-based roguelike that's been in some form of development for 12 years now. Given that McMillen recently said that actually releasing a game is his least-favorite part of the development process, I have a feeling that he'll be glad to have both of these projects off his plate sooner rather than later.
It's only two weeks away, but you can grab one of our best roguelikes to kill time until Isaac Online.
