Multiplayer, Co-op & Offline
Strictly single-player, and that is a design decision rather than a limitation. This page covers what is in, what is out, what single-player-only actually buys you, and the two questions around it that most sites leave unanswered: DRM status and offline play.
There is no multiplayer of any kind. No co-op, no PvP, no invasions, no asynchronous online features. The Steam listing carries single-player as its only player-mode category, and nothing the developer has published suggests otherwise. If you were hoping to play this with a friend, this is not that game and no announced update changes it.
That is worth taking seriously in both directions. It removes an entire category of frustration: nobody will invade your run, no phantom will help you trivialise a boss, and the balance is tuned against exactly one player. It also means the game has no answer for the thing that keeps soulslikes alive for years, which is the community layer around them. When people say the replay value here is thin, that absence is part of what they mean.
Feature matrix
- YesSingle-player campaignConfirmed. The only player mode Steam lists for Valor Mortis.
- NoOnline co-opNot present. No co-op mode has ever been announced or implied.
- NoPvP or invasionsNot present. There is no adversarial component at all.
- UnknownOnline requirementUncharacterised. Single-player titles of this shape usually launch without one, but no source confirms it either way.
- YesSteam Cloud savesListed as a supported feature.
- YesXbox Play AnywhereConfirmed. A digital copy carries one save between an Xbox console and a Windows PC.
- YesSteam Family SharingListed as a supported feature, subject to household rules.
- YesDisc releasePhysical versions ship for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
- NoPre-order or preloadNeither exists. The publisher ruled out pre-orders deliberately.
- NoCross-save between platformsNot announced. Play Anywhere covers Xbox and PC only, not PlayStation.
What single-player-only actually buys you
A purely single-player soulslike can be balanced in ways a connected one cannot. Every encounter is tuned against one player with one build, which is why the developer is comfortable pushing boss fights as hard as they do. There is no shared meta to keep up with, no seasonal reset, and no reason for a patch to rebalance your character because something became dominant in a mode you never play.
It also means your progress is entirely yours. There is no way to be carried, which sounds like a small thing until it is the reason a boss finally falls.
No difficulty slider, four assists instead
The developer chose a fixed difficulty with no story mode. What it ships instead is four settings that change how easy the game is to control rather than how hard the encounters are: Target Lock, Combat Assist, Instant Restart and Quick Cast. In a single-player game those are the whole accessibility story, and they are covered in full on the settings page.
Where the community actually lives
Not in the game. Discussion happens on the official Discord, the subreddit and the Steam community hub, which is where patch reactions and build arguments will appear. We link the official channels on the about page.
Offline play and cloud saves
Steam lists single-player as the only player mode and the game supports Steam Cloud. Offline mode in Steam normally works for a single-player title once it has been launched online at least once, but a game that checks in on launch will not start without a connection. We cannot confirm which it is until launch day, and anyone claiming otherwise before then is guessing.
In practice there are three possible behaviours and they are indistinguishable from the store page. The game may launch and run indefinitely with no connection; it may require a one-time online launch and then work offline; or it may check in every time it starts. Only the first two are acceptable for a single-player title in most people's judgement, and we will say which one it is on launch day rather than guess now.
What is confirmed is Steam Cloud, so your save follows you between machines on the same account, and Xbox Play Anywhere, so a digital copy carries a single save between an Xbox console and a Windows PC. That covers most of the practical travel-and-resume cases, but note the boundary: Play Anywhere does not extend to PlayStation, and there is no announced cross-save between PlayStation and anything else.
DRM, offline play and what is actually documented
Here is the honest position. The Steam store listing carries no third-party DRM notice in any of the sources we checked, and the developer's own news feed never mentions DRM, anti-tamper or anti-cheat. That is not the same as a confirmation that there is none: a store notice can be added or removed at any time, and publishers do not usually announce DRM in a development update.
Check it yourself Open the game's Steam store page, scroll to the right-hand information panel below the language list, and look for a line reading 'Third-Party DRM'. If it is absent, none was declared at the time you looked. That is the only authoritative check, and it takes ten seconds.
Common misconception: A launcher being present is not DRM. Steam itself is not third-party DRM. Neither tells you anything about whether the game will run offline.
Pre-orders, and what their absence costs you
There is nothing to pre-purchase
ConfirmedThere are no pre-orders and nothing to pre-purchase. The publisher answered the question directly in their own Steam post: they want the finished game to make the argument rather than a trailer.
No pre-order bonus, so there is no cosmetic or currency you can miss by buying at launch instead.
No pre-order preload. Because pre-orders do not exist, there is no preload window, and the 50 GB download starts when the game unlocks. If your connection is slow, that delay is the real launch time for you, not the published unlock instant.
No price incentive to commit early. The publisher announced $39.99 as the permanent price rather than a launch discount, so there is no window to miss.
Multiplayer and offline questions
Is Valor Mortis co-op?
No. There is no co-op, no PvP, no invasions and no multiplayer component of any kind. Steam lists single-player as the only player mode on the store page.
Can I play Valor Mortis offline?
Probably, but it is not confirmed. Steam lists single-player as the only mode and supports Steam Cloud, which normally means offline play works once the game has been launched online at least once. A title that checks in at launch will not start without a connection, and we cannot tell which this is before launch day.
Does Valor Mortis have Denuvo?
No third-party DRM notice appeared on the Steam listing in any source we checked, and the developer never mentions DRM in its own news posts. That is not a confirmation of absence. Scroll to the information panel on the store page and look for a Third-Party DRM line.
Can I pre-order it?
No. There are no pre-orders and nothing to pre-purchase, by the publisher’s own choice. That also means there is no preload, so the 50 GB download begins when the game unlocks.