Summary
- Slender: The Arrival's 10th-anniversary update brings multiplayer and modding, giving players the ability to create their own Slender Man stories and play with friends.
- The addition of multiplayer allows for a creative sandbox experience within the Slender Man mythos, expanding the game beyond its single-player origins.
- The introduction of modding enables players to share and play custom scenarios, with the mod editor providing tools to create maps, modes, skins, and more.
The creepy, unnaturally long arms of the iconic Slender Man stretch through history as players once again enjoy the chills and thrills of Slender: The Arrival in the horror title's recently released 10th-anniversary update. In addition to playing the 2013 story with updated graphics made possible with Unreal Engine 5.2, players can also step foot into the world of Slender: The Arrival with a friend thanks to the introduction of co-op multiplayer.
The 10th-anniversary update also introduces modding, enabling players to create and share their own Slender Man stories as another first. Before the recent release of the update, The Best War Games interviewed Blue Isle Studios' Co-Founder and Technical Director Brenden Frank, about the addition of multiplayer, modding, and how they work in the psychological horror game.
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How Multiplayer Works In Slender: The Arrival Anniversary Update
Slender: The Arrival's anniversary update introduces two-four player co-op with planned crossplay support. When asked why the Studio decided to bring multiplayer to Slender: The Arrival, Frank identified how a creative Slender sandbox fed into the development of horror multiplayer co-op.
Slender The Arrival has had a dedicated fanbase over the past 10 years, and we really feel like that fanbase would love to have a sandbox for their own creations within the mythos that is officially sanctioned by Slender Man creators. Currently, the game is only single-player, and we wanted to make sure that the creation sandbox included the ability for multiplayer experiences. In order to do that, it was important that we led the way with our very own multiplayer mode.
When asked how the Slender Man's AI works with more players when compared to single-player, Frank mentioned there is "a lot of room for the single-player AI to work in a multiplayer environment." That said, Frank added, "...gameplay is still in its infancy, and it's possible our initial multiplayer mode will not rely heavily on Slender Man’s AI at all." While there might be few changes with how the Slender Man's AI behaves with extra players, that doesn't mean the scares still can't be enjoyed as a shared experience. It also gives the developers room to expand Slender Man's video game AI capabilities even further if they decide it's something worth pursuing alongside their planned future DLCs.
Modding To Make New Slender Man Stories In Slender: The Arrival Update
Slender: The Arriva l's introduction of modding also enables players to share their video game mod crossplay scenarios with other players, allowing players to create their own Slender Man stories for other players to experience on any compatible platform. Frank also went into more detail about how Slender: The Arrival's creative video game mod kit works for anyone curious about trying it out.
In essence, a modder can download our editor from the Epic game store, and use the mod kit to create maps, modes, skins, or other modifications of choice. From there, they use our handy upload tool which uploads their mod to Curseforge, and our cloud cooker prepares packages that are compatible with all platforms. The game’s mod editor allows players to sync their published mod and play it in the game.
It will be interesting to see how the Slender: The Arrival community reacts to the inclusion of multiplayer and modding, plus what creative scenarios they come up with. Slender: The Arrival's earlier teased comeback also looks to have more to offer with upcoming DLC ahead and potentially more Slender Man lore to tell.
Slender: The Arrival is available now for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The Slender: The Arrival 10th Anniversary update is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.