The Xbox 360 only Gears of War series will probably never know a life on any other consoles, as Microsoft paid Epic Games an undisclosed amount for exclusive rights to the franchise. While Gears of War 3 wrapped the story of Broody "Muscles" McDo-rag and my main man Dom pretty thoroughly, Black Tusk Studios is in development on the next installment to the highly influential series. Heading the new unnamed Gears of War project is Rod Fergueson, former Epic Games employee who acted as executive producer of the first three Gears games. 

For the first time in the Tropico series, Kalypso Media has announced that Tropico 5 will have co-op play. The only details announced so far is that up to 4 players can build their own cities and economies on the same map. They can either share resources and citizens cooperatively or declare war on each other competitively.

The Japanese studio CAVE (all caps, please), the creators behind Deathsmiles and DoDonPachi have decided the Western Hemisphere is just not the place for their co-op shoot-'em-ups. In an announcement made by their English-speaking representative, Masa-King, the studio is closing its CAVEWorlden Twitter account and the CAVEWorlden word-press website on February 28th of this year. Before this announcement, the blog had not been updated in two years. CAVE noted it will still continue to provide information on the development of its games via the Japanese twitter account.

A few of the crew will be hitting up the online version of Tamriel while the rest of the team looks on in disbelief. There's plenty of gaming to be had though with the likes of board games, PC games and consoles games by everyone.

Larian Studios is best known for the Divinity series of games set in the fantastical realm of Rivellon. Each entry has been a little different than the last, with the most recent entry being a tactical/turn-based strategy affair. The next entry, Divinity Original Sin, is their “return to roots” with a more “classic” style of computer RPGs with the added benefit of co-op play. The game is currently in an Early Access Alpha version on Steam and we’ve gotten our paws on it to get a preview of what Larian has in store for gamers on this one.

We may have reported on what comes with Diablo III's Reaper of Souls Collector's Edition in the past, but no one has ever seen the full contents, until now. The limited edition features "rare artifacts to air you in the crusade against death itself." In addition to the full game for PC or Mac, players will receive: ...

To celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary, Capcom has pulled out a big pair of scissors and chopped the price of the digital versions of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate in half. From now until February 3rd at 9 a.m. PST, grab the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U versions in the North American eShop for $19.99 each. The European sale runs January 31st through February 6th with "slightly different...but still significant" discounts, according to Capcom.

In what could possibly be the first cooperative octopus sim ever, Octodad: Dadliest Catch has launched its PC version with support for four local players. Instead of going all splitscreen or whatnot, each player takes control of a set of limbs, flailing them about madly as you try to do simple tasks like make a cup of coffee or mow the lawn. Hilarity naturally ensues.

It has been ten years since the EDF held the line against the alien invaders. Our foes from beyond the stars have returned with new technology and resources to reduce Earth to a burned shell. Only YOU- yes, YOU (and three friends) can suit up in your cybernetic equipment and stand against the insect onslaught. 

At this point we can probably piece together the entirety of Dark Souls 2 based off of the countless screenshots and trailers floating around out there. FromStudios throws out media like they're a super proud kindergartner who really wants to show you that drawing of their cat they did. And much like dealing with said kindergartner, you can't help but look every time. Surely one more batch couldn't hurt, right? 

Covenant and humanity clash once again on the battlefield today in Halo: Spartan Assault, now available on Xbox 360! Grab this fantastic twin-stick shooter with a friend and go all out.

We at Co-Optimus like to highlight the latest games, but one of the wonders of co-op is how often you end up playing a classic with friends.  Recapturing that feeling of couch co-op with a sibling or pal is sometimes what gaming is about.  Therefore, when a stone cold classic like Metal Slug 3 is planned for release on Steam, we are going to tell you about it!