Party Animals mentioned "online and offline" co-op so fans assumed it had an offline mode, but the devs say it doesn't and that was a "misunderstanding"

Party Animals screenshot — (Image credit: Source Technology)

The developer behind Party Animals has clarified the confusion around its seemingly absent offline mode.

Yesterday, September 20, Party Animals launched to well over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, making it a certified hit. However, it was also flooded with negative reviews on Steam, where players bemoaned the lack of an offline mode, among other issues, something they thought the developer had confirmed before release.

In a new blog post, developer Recreate Games has addressed the confusion. The studio acknowledges the original hint of an offline mode, with a description reading: "Paw it out with your friends both online and offline." The developer writes that its "intention with this sentence was to convey that you can play with your friends remotely (online), or together in the same location using the same device (offline) through split-screen."

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"However, it seems this statement led some players to believe that Party Animals supports an offline mode. We regret the misunderstanding and wish to clarify that the game does not have, nor do we plan to introduce, an offline mode. Party Animals currently requires an online connection to play," the blog post from Recreate Games continues.

As such, Party Animals' description no longer bears this sentence. Recreate Games reminds players that Party Animals never had an offline mode in its three rounds of pre-launch testing, but acknowledges that the aforementioned sentence could've been more "thoughtfully worded." English notably isn't the first language of the folks at Recreate Games, and the Chinese description of Party Animals never had this mistake.

Hopefully this change gives players a better idea of what to expect from Party Animals when delving into the, well, party. Apart from this issue, players have also been unhappy with cosmetic prices and server issues – two problems that Recreate Games hasn't addressed just yet.

You can read our full Party Animals review for what we made of the new chaotic family brawler.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.