Prison Architect has been around for quite some time and is largely considered to be one of the few games to do ‘early access' right. Now three years on from its full release, the developers are still expanding the game, dropping a surprise multiplayer mode.

Prison Architect is adding an eight-player multiplayer mode in Update 16. This will allow players to build their prison with several friends and manage specific aspects easier. Currently, the multiplayer mode is in alpha, so some features are missing. Multiplayer is also restricted to the base game in order to get the “core functionality” all up and running.

Features like emergency callouts, prison grading and reports will be absent for a while. In order to get into the alpha, you can opt-in to the game's beta branch on Steam. Those who own the game off of Steam will be able to download the update later this week instead.

The goal is to have multiplayer up and running completely in the months to come. PC players will get this mode first and once it is all finished, we may see it hit consoles, like the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

KitGuru Says: I've been a big fan of Prison Architect since it was in early access. I'll be looking forward to testing out the multiplayer at some point, but I might wait for a few more features to be up and running. Do many of you play Prison Architect? Will you be trying the new multiplayer mode? 

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