Earth Defense Force 6, like the rest of the EDF series, is superbly wacky, kinetic, and imaginative. The co-op, arcade-style shooter is sadly becoming a relic, and I'm glad that Earth Defense Force is still alive - and still obliterating gigantic insectoid aliens en masse - in 2024. But despite its retro visuals and maximalist gunplay, the Earth Defense Force 6 Steam release has been marred by one particular technical wrinkle, similar to the PSN account linking snafu that scuppered the reputation of Helldivers 2. Currently lumbered with a 'very negative' rating on Valve's store, EDF 6 is having a tough launch day.
It all comes down to Earth Defense Force 6 multiplayer, no doubt the most important part of the entire alien shooter experience. Put simply, even if you've got EDF 6 on Steam, if you want to play with your friends, you need to make an Epic Online account and link everything up. It sounds bizarre. If you're playing the co-op game on Steam, with other people who are also on Steam, why do you need the Epic account? Well, there is an explanation.
Essentially, the Earth Defense Force series historically uses its own proprietary network for online play. This has been fine until recently, but EDF 6, when it first arrived back in 2022, was released for both the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5, and the in-house networking system couldn't handle cross-platform play - it's just not something that EDF's bespoke network was designed to do. As such, Sandlot, developer of the Earth Defense Force series, needed an external solution. The studio chose Epic Online Services.
You might remember what happened with Helldivers 2 back in April and May - suddenly, Steam players had to link their accounts with the PlayStation Network. Sony and Arrowhead eventually reversed that decision, but not before the shooter was summarily review bombed. At present, Earth Defense Force 6 seems to be suffering a similar ignominy. Of the 207 user reviews posted on Steam so far, only 18% are positive - almost all the critical responses complain about linking to Epic Online Services.
Will Sandlot change tact? We'll have to see. In the meantime, if you don't fancy Earth Defense Force right now, try some of the other best multiplayer games, or maybe the best new PC games that have just arrived.
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