Is Guardians of the Galaxy co op?

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy preview — (Image credit: Square Enix)

Is Guardians of the Galaxy co op? Despite the Guardians seeming like a perfect fit for a co op PvE action game, you can't play it with others. Footage for the game shows at least five heroes going wild with all sorts of attacks again aliens and evildoers, so it's easy to see why Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy looks like it could be played with friends in co op multiplayer, but it's unfortunately not the case. Below, I'll take you through what's going on with Guardians of the Galaxy co op and if it it's something that could be added in a future update.

Recent updates

This guide was last updated on January 5th, 2024, to ensure that the information regarding co-op is still correct, and that the game does not have co op multiplayer of any kind. Since the game's launch in October 2021, there has been no indication from Square Enix or Eidos-Montreal that the game will have co op functionality implemented.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy — (Image credit: Square Enix)

Does Guardians of the Galaxy have co op multiplayer?

No. At the time of writing, Guardians of the Galaxy has no co op mode or multiplayer capabilities. It's solely single-player and, as far as we know, there are no plans by Eidos-Montreal or Square Enix to change that in the future.

To clarify, the multiple characters that you might've seen in the promotional footage or advertisements are all controlled by one player. Specifically, that player plays as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, but you have the option in and out of combat to give instructions to your allies, slowing down time, highlighting an opponent or object and giving a specific order that they then carry out. You can't actually play as the other Guardians, nor can anybody else, instead framing you as the leader of a team of (mostly) obedient NPCs.

Will Guardians of the Galaxy get online co op or multiplayer?

Guardians of the Galaxy co op — (Image credit: Square Enix)

At the moment, we don't know of any plans by the developers to include an online, co op or multiplayer element, or even classic couch co op. While it's not impossible, it doesn't seem likely that such a feature would be added, as the strictly-single player nature of Guardians of the Galaxy leaves very little room for this kind of expansion. Or it may simply be the case that the idea of Square Enix doing Marvel-focused online co op games has become tainted since the Avengers game launched.

Still, nothing's impossible, and with a certain amount of interest in the idea of a co op Guardians of the Galaxy game, perhaps adjustments will be made in the future. Whatever happens, we'll be sure to update this page as and when we hear more from the developers on this matter.