Cooperative video game: History and Key Facts

A cooperative video game, often abbreviated as co-op video game, is a video game that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more non-player character opponents (PvE). Co-op games can be played locally using one or multiple input controllers or over a network via local area networks, wide area networks, or the Internet.

Co-op gameplay has gained popularity as controller and networking technology has developed. On PCs, consoles and mobile devices, cooperative games have become increasingly common, and many genres of games—including shooter games, sports games, real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games—include co-op modes.

In 2025, cooperative games (specifically non-MMO games such as Lethal Company, R.E.P.O. and PEAK) gained the derogatory slang term Friendslop, coined alongside the complementary term "Friendfarming".

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