Uncharted 4 multiplayer won't have dedicated servers, will have microtransactions

The multiplayer component of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End won't offer dedicated servers, and will instead run on peer-to-peer connections, reports VG247.

"We'll still have a host, it's still peer-to-peer," said Robert Cogburn, the game's lead multiplayer designer, following a presentation attended by VG247 during Paris Games Week yesterday. Neither of the previous Uncharted games with multiplayer modes — 2009's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and 2011's Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception — had dedicated servers, so this is nothing new for the series.

Dedicated servers are much more expensive for a game developer or publisher than running a peer-to-peer game, and peer-to-peer connections have many disadvantages compared to dedicated servers. For example, all players in a round will be limited by the person with the highest-latency (i.e., slowest) connection.

Uncharted 4's multiplayer component will support a maximum five-on-five play, like Uncharted 2 and 3. And it will offer microtransactions at launch, allowing players to buy items like weapons, tools and upgrades, reports GameSpot.

"Microtransactions will be available at launch, but we'll have no gameplay items that will be gated through microtransactions," Cogburn told GameSpot. In other words, players will be able to obtain everything by playing normally, but they can choose to pay for quicker access. Uncharted 4 includes an in-game currency, Naughty Dog Points, that you earn as you play and can spend to unlock items.

Cogburn also confirmed to GameSpot that Uncharted 4's multiplayer component will run at 60 frames per second. However, Naughty Dog dropped the resolution to 900p in order to achieve that frame rate; the single-player campaign will run in 1080p, but at 30 fps.

We've reached out to Sony and Naughty Dog for further comment, and will update this article with any information we receive. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection buyers will be able to try out Uncharted 4's multiplayer gameplay in December, when Naughty Dog will run a beta test from Dec. 4-13.