Getting the whole crew aboard Directive 8020 no longer requires getting everybody onto the same sofa. Supermassive’s October 19 update adds online play for up to five people, with two ways to pass control around the group.
The detail to settle before sending invitations: the developer explicitly says online multiplayer has no cross-play, and every player needs a copy. Agree on a platform first. Discovering that requirement after everyone clears their evening is a fairly effective horror opening of its own.
Choose characters or choose a turn timer
Custom Mode assigns characters at the beginning. You take over when your assigned character becomes playable. Round Robin removes that allocation and transfers control after a set interval instead.
That gives a group a useful choice. Character assignment suits friends who want responsibility for particular people. Timed turns suit a group that would rather share the job without negotiating who gets whom. Neither arrangement prevents your friends from having opinions about your decisions.
The vote gives advice; the active player still decides
Choice Voting displays the group’s preferred outcome, but the person in control can follow that advice or choose differently. The update also allows mixed groups in different locations, within the five-person total.
For a game built around an alien threat that can imitate people, distributing decisions is an appealing fit. Our read is that the interesting addition is shared responsibility: the group can agree on a plan, then watch one friend decide that a completely different plan sounds excellent.
Outside multiplayer, the notes add 13 Premonition collectibles that hint at possible futures and announce retro silver outfits. Those hints may influence a decision; they should not be treated as a promise that a particular outcome must happen.
A quick check before a group session
Update the game, check that everyone has the required copy on a compatible platform, and decide which control arrangement suits your group. The announcement’s key purchasing requirement is one copy per player, so plan around that explicit rule.
For the broader setup questions, our pieces on why player counts need more than a controller-port count and what local multiplayer preserves explain why the word “multiplayer” can conceal several different arrangements.
Sources checked October 19, 2026: Supermassive’s October 19 update notes and official game page.
Screenshots via MobyGames, used under its article screenshot permission. Images are unchanged.
