Best PS5 multiplayer games in 2026

HELLDIVERS™ 2 is our number one among multiplayer PS5 games in 2026, with Split Fiction second and Monster Hunter Wilds third.

We ranked these 10 on whether a game gets better with other people in it or merely supports them. Games that need a group to work together ranked above games where other people are just present, and that test set most of the order below.

Four of these 10 are free to download and start, and two of the paid picks list at $39.99. Use the table to find the session you want, then read the entry for its catch.

Our top 10 picks compared

The best multiplayer games on PS5, ranked

Four of these cost nothing to start, and the entries below cover the price and the catch on each one.

1. HELLDIVERS™ 2

First place goes to a shooter that only works when four people commit to the same plan. Sony Interactive Entertainment put it out in February 2024, and the store listing supports up to four online players. Whether that four can span platforms is the Helldivers 2 crossplay question.

What keeps it top is how badly it needs the squad. Talking to each other matters more than aim, and that is the exact quality we ranked this list on.

• Best for: Four-player co-op where going quiet gets everyone killed
• Standout: Squads of up to four online, in a shooter designed around them rather than tolerating them
• The catch: Four is the ceiling, so a fifth friend sits the mission out, and going in without a squad wastes what makes it good
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Paid download, $39.99
• Rating: 4.43 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (147,000 ratings)

2. Split Fiction

Split Fiction is built for two people and nothing else. Electronic Arts released this co-op adventure in March 2025, and the listing puts it at two players with co-op as the mode.

Second place comes down to the reception. At 4.83 out of 5 it is the best-reviewed pick on this list, and co-op is the whole design rather than a mode inside it.

• Best for: One friend, start to finish
• Standout: A co-op adventure built for exactly two players
• The catch: Two is also the cap, so a third friend has nowhere to sit
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Paid download
• Rating: 4.83 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (42,000 ratings)

3. Monster Hunter Wilds

Weather does half the hunting in Monster Hunter Wilds. Capcom's Forbidden Lands swing between rich Plenty periods and harsh stretches where monsters roam in packs, and up to four hunters can take that on together online.

The learning curve is what keeps it out of the top two. Tracking a monster, harvesting it, and forging the next set of gear is a loop worth four people's evenings, though it asks far more of a newcomer than anything above.

• Best for: Hunting parties that stick together
• Standout: A living map where shifting weather changes which monsters come out, hunted by up to four players online
• The catch: At $69.99 it is the biggest upfront spend in this top 10, and the systems take real time to learn
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Paid download, $69.99
• Rating: 4.1 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (86,000 ratings)

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4. Minecraft

Split screen still exists on PS5, and Minecraft is the strongest reason to use it. A Realms Plus subscription takes the same group online instead, with up to 10 friends on your own private server.

We put it fourth on range alone. Survival, building, and cross-platform play cover more kinds of group than any single-genre pick here, and the EVERYONE 10+ rating makes this the one to load when ages at the controller vary. Its cross-platform reach is exactly what our guide to Minecraft crossplay breaks down.

• Best for: Building together on one couch, or across platforms
• Standout: Split screen on one console, plus cross-platform play with people on console, mobile, and PC
• The catch: Vibrant Visuals, the newer graphics mode, switches off as soon as a second player joins locally, dropping split screen back to the older rendering
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Paid download

5. Call of Duty®: Warzone™

Nothing to pay is Warzone's opening argument. Activision drops 99 players into one free combat arena and keeps rotating what sits inside it, with the Drone Labs area in Verdansk and Resurgence Ranked Play among the current draws.

Warzone is the one pick here we argued about. Its 703,000 ratings average out at 3.91, the weakest reception in this top 10, and that gap between scale and satisfaction is worth knowing before you install it.

• Best for: Free battle royale with a full squad
• Standout: 99 online players in a single match, at no cost to start
• The catch: The listing warns that Warzone stops working on PS4 after Season 06 of Black Ops 7, and the average rating is the lowest here
• Platforms: PS4, PS5
• Price and monetization: Free to play
• Rating: 3.91 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (703,000 ratings)

6. Rocket League

Psyonix has not needed to change the idea since 2015. Cars, a ball, and a scoreboard still make the easiest pitch on this list, and a match is over in minutes.

Age is the only thing holding it at sixth. Entry still costs nothing, and anyone understands the game inside a single match.

• Best for: Short competitive matches with whoever is around
• Standout: Free to play and rated ESRB Everyone, so nobody is priced or aged out of a match
• The catch: A 2015 release makes this the oldest listing in this top 10, and the idea has not moved since
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Free to play

7. Street Fighter™ 6

Street Fighter™ 6 turns multiplayer into a rivalry instead of a squad. Capcom brought it to PS5 and PS4 in June 2023, and the listing supports lobbies of up to 16 players online.

We had less to work with here than anywhere else on the list. The official page carries little detail to weigh against the picks above, and that thin evidence settled its place rather than anything about the fighting.

• Best for: One-on-one fights against another player
• Standout: Online lobbies of up to 16 players
• The catch: The official listing gives little beyond the basics, and fighting games ask for practice before they get fun
• Platforms: PS4, PS5
• Price and monetization: Paid download

8. TEKKEN 8

Fighting games live or die on rivalries. Bandai Namco launched TEKKEN 8 in January 2024, and it lists the same 16-player online lobbies as Capcom's fighter above.

Nothing about eighth place is a knock on the fighting itself. Fewer people have weighed in, with 24,000 ratings behind its 4.26 out of 5, so there is less consensus to lean on than the bigger listings here carry.

• Best for: Fighting-game rivalries that last
• Standout: Online lobbies of up to 16 players
• The catch: 24,000 ratings is the thinnest feedback of any pick here
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Paid download, $39.99
• Rating: 4.26 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (24,000 ratings)

9. Destiny 2 PS4™ & PS5™

Co-op and PvP sit inside the same free download. Bungie splits Guardians into Titans, Warlocks, and Hunters, and one character runs story missions, strike fireteams, raids, and competitive arenas. Cross-platform fireteams are covered in our Destiny 2 crossplay guide.

No pick here answers to the word multiplayer more completely, which is why it holds a place despite a 2020 listing with years of content stacked behind it. What drops it this far down is the backlog waiting on a new Guardian.

• Best for: Co-op raids and PvP under one download
• Standout: A single free download covering the PS4 and PS5 versions, supporting 16 online players
• The catch: A 2020 listing with expansions layered on ever since, so a new Guardian has to work out where to start
• Platforms: PS4, PS5
• Price and monetization: Free to play
• Rating: 4.23 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (326,000 ratings)

10. Apex Legends™ PS5

Every legend on the Apex roster brings a different tool to the squad. Electronic Arts publishes it, and the listing supports 60 online players. Squadding across systems means checking whether Apex Legends is crossplay.

Tenth does not mean least played. Its 845,000 ratings make the biggest sample on this list, and holding 4.08 out of 5 across that many players says the hero shooter formula still works.

• Best for: Squad shooting where each legend does a different job
• Standout: 60 online players, free entry, and a roster where team composition decides fights
• The catch: The roster is the whole game, so working out which legend does what is the price of entry
• Platforms: PS5
• Price and monetization: Free to play
• Rating: 4.08 out of 5 on the PlayStation Store (845,000 ratings)

How we picked these 10

Every rank above is our editorial recommendation, not the output of a benchmark. Official PlayStation listings supplied the publisher, release date, player counts, prices, and ratings, and we weighed five things on top of them.

• Genre fit: whether multiplayer is the design or a mode bolted on afterwards
• Quality: how well the systems, the balance, and the studio's craft hold together
• Current relevance: whether people are still filling lobbies for it now
• Accessibility: how fast a new player becomes useful to a squad
• Replayability: whether the tenth session still has something left in it

Every price, player count, and rating above comes from the official listing for that game. The ordering, the catches, and the calls about who each pick suits are ours.

Where to start with PS5 multiplayer tonight

Load HELLDIVERS™ 2 if three friends are free tonight, because no other pick rewards a group that actually talks. With exactly one friend free, start Split Fiction instead and see it through to the end.

Budget decides the rest of it. If shooters are the whole draw, our best PS5 shooter games list goes deeper. Warzone and Apex Legends™ PS5 fill a squad in minutes for nothing, while Rocket League is what you open when nobody wants to learn anything first. Rainbow Six Siege is the pick for a squad that wants tactics, and our Rainbow Six Siege crossplay guide covers who you can queue with.

• Four people, one plan: HELLDIVERS™ 2, Monster Hunter Wilds
• One friend, start to finish: Split Fiction
• Head to head: Street Fighter™ 6, TEKKEN 8
• Sharing one couch: Minecraft
• Nothing to spend: Call of Duty®: Warzone™, Rocket League, Destiny 2 PS4™ & PS5™, Apex Legends™ PS5