Legendary roguelike The Binding of Isaac has its multiplayer tests taken offline after impatient fans hacked their way in

Feb. 14, 2024

Someone needs Temperance

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

The original developers of The Binding of Isaac are working on building an online multiplayer version of the legendary roguelike, but testing has been stalled after players hacked their way into unfinished modes.

In a recent tweet (viaRoguelikers) executive producer Tyrone Rodriguez said that alpha tests of the ‘Isaac Online’ had been taken offline because “someone took it upon themselves to hack the online version to play other modes.” Each month, testers had the opportunity to play the game, including a rotating game mode. In this instance, however, the hacker got around the current mode, “and shared how to do this hack with other players.”

Rodriguez goes on to explain the impact of a hack like this: “We know fans want to play Isaac online but the team need our tests to actually be tests.” If players are finding their way into modes that aren’t actually being tested, then their presence in the alpha becomes dramatically less valuable - “if the Isaac dev team can’t get the reports/feedback they need, it doesn’t make sense doing a public beta.”

Its presence in alpha means that Isaac Online is likely still some distance away, and incidents like this certainly aren’t helping it get into the hands of regular players any quicker. The good news is that fellow Isaac creator has a new game on the way soon - Mewgenics is a roguelike strategy game filled with cat-breeding and Isaac-style humor, and developerEdmund McMillen says he thinks it “will be seen as my best work.”

Thebest roguelikegames might have some new competition soon.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

I’m GamesRadar’s news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I’ve run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam’s latest indie hit.

After thousands of “Overwhelmingly Positive” Steam reviews, Caves of Qud dev says the roguelike RPG has done “100x better than anything we ever expected”

Dev behind new Doki Doki Literature Club-style psychological horror says it’s not “for those with weak hearts,” but with 98% positive Steam reviews, I’m not sure I can stay away