Co-op and multiplayer in The Escapists 3
Two players in local split-screen, up to four online. Escape solo or split the jobs between a crew — the game's own pitch includes finding out which of your friends is useless with a shovel.
The short version
Two players in local split-screen. Up to four online. The Escapists 3 supports small crews natively on every platform, and Team17's pitch for why is simple: escaping a prison is easier with accomplices — and funnier when one of them is "useless with a shovel".
How the modes break down
| Mode | Players | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | 1 | All platforms |
| Local split-screen | 2 | All platforms — shared screen co-op |
| Online co-op | Up to 4 | All platforms |
| Online PvP | Multiplayer | Listed on the Steam page alongside shared/split-screen PvP |
The Steam categories list single-player, online co-op, shared/split-screen co-op, online PvP and shared/split-screen PvP, plus Remote Play Together and full controller support — so the lobby math is flexible: a pair on one couch, four across the internet, or anything in between.
Team17's sales pitch
From the official announcement:
"Divide the jobs, play to each other's strengths, coordinate the timing and execute the perfect prison break… and discover which of your friends is useless with a shovel."
And from the dev Q&A, the design intent behind playing together:
"I'm looking forward to people playing co-op, creating different roles amongst themselves and forming an elite prison escape team that's ready for anything."
That is the game's own framing — roles emerge naturally from the systems rather than from classes you pick in a menu.
Jobs to divide in a four-player crew
Nothing here is a hard rule; it is what the systems reward. An escape has a lot of parallel work:
| Role | Why it suits a teammate |
|---|---|
| The digger | Tunnels take real time — having one player on permanent shovel duty keeps pace |
| The trader | Searching cells and trading with inmates is its own economy; a dedicated buyer smooths supply |
| The lookout | Guard rotations and schedules are learnable; someone tracking them keeps the crew out of trouble |
| The improviser | Crafting from junk means surprise tools; a player who experiments creates escape options |
Playing solo
Everything above is optional. The series has always been a complete single-player sandbox, and the dev Q&A treats solo play as the default rhythm — your routines, your tunnel, your timing. Co-op changes who is watching the guards, not what the game is.
The prisons preview covers where these escape plans will unfold, and the platforms guide has the wishlist links for whichever store your crew uses.
