Tetris Effect is getting multiplayer in time for Christmas 2020 on Xbox.
Tetris Effect: Connected is considered Tetris Effect 2.0, and launches for Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, and Xbox Game Pass later this year. It includes Smart Delivery, Microsoft’s current-gen to next-gen free upgrade program.
The game includes Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s wonderful original, single-player Tetris Effect with new co-op and competitive online and local multiplayer modes. Online or local co-op and competitive play is for 1-3 players (1-2 competitive, 1-3 co-op, with CPU players available).
There’s ranked and unranked, matchmaking and player progressions for unlockable avatars. Expect cross-play between all Xbox platforms, including Windows Store PC.
New modes include Zone Battle, which incorporates Tetris Effect’s time-stopping Zone mechanic, and the co-op Connected mode, where up to three players can connect their Tetris playfields together and play as one against CPU-controlled bosses.
The multiplayer then launches on non-Xbox platforms in summer 2021 as a free update to all other existing versions of Tetris Effect (PlayStation 4, Epic Games Store, and Oculus Quest). There’s no mention of a PlayStation 5 version in today’s announcement.
Tetris Effect: Connected – Announce Trailer Watch on YouTube
“We were blown away by the reaction to the original Tetris Effect,” Mizuguchi said. “People just ‘got it’ on every level – as a game, of course, but also as this positive, emotional, life-affirming experience. Some people were shocked they could be so moved, even to tears,by a ‘puzzle game,’ which we took as the ultimate compliment.