This new 16-player '100% cooperative' survival game is inspired by Valheim, Terraria, and Minecraft

If you're looking for a new survival crafting game to jump into with a pile of your friends, we just got a peek at what could become your next destination. Codename: Islands (a working title as you might guess) is a 16-player survival crafting game inspired by Minecraft, Valheim, and Terraria, being described as "100%" cooperative by its developers: several veterans of Riot Games, now part of the team at Treehouse Games.

"Codename: Islands brings you to a mysterious, unexplored ocean world where you work together to build a settlement on top of a magical, living island," says Treehouse Games. "Players will partner with up to 16 of their friends in a shared world where they can build an ever-evolving home, explore surrounding islands, craft powerful gear, battle monsters, and awaken their island spirit."

The teaser doesn't exactly give us much of a look at the game—none of the aforementioned battling, crafting, building, or monsters are actually shown—but we do see a trio of adventurers arriving on a tropical island and using magic to awaken an entity which begins hovering in front of some tall rune stones. The stones remind me a little of the sacrificial stones at the center of every map in another co-op survival game, Valheim.

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“We love social games where we can find quality time with others," says Michael Chu, former product manager at Riot Games and co-founder of Treehouse Games. "But far too often, multiplayer goes straight to brutal competition and shooting each other when all you want is to hang out and have fun with your friends."

"In our game, whether you love to base-build, gather, explore, fight world bosses, or craft unique gear to create your own kit, you'll play an essential role in your group," says another Riot veteran, Andrea Sepenzis.

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A mysterious island — (Image credit: Treehouse Games)

We were also sent a few screenshots (above) which show what appear to be some cozy-looking bases, and a serene island view with some interesting structures and landmarks in the distance. Will this game have grappling hooks or wingsuits? I am kind of guessing it will.

Codename: Islands isn't planned to launch until 2024, but Treehouse Games "will share a full game announcement with playtest sign-ups in late 2023." And, presumably, we'll find out its real name then, too.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.