After more than three months of hard work, the Multiplayer update is now available in Steams BETA branch, and we are hoping to push it to live within 3-4 weeks! The BETA branch is publicly available to all Steam owners who opt-in, so you can try Multiplayer right now!
To opt-in to the BETA, right click Aground in your Steam library and click properties. Then go to the Betas tab and select beta in the drop down (no beta access code is necessary - leave it blank). Once done, Steam will download the beta version and it should say Aground [beta] in your library. You can use this drop-down to return to the stable version at any time. The BETA is currently Windows only - this is because we have to push frequent updates and bugfixes. The Mac and Linux versions will get cross platform Multiplayer before it goes live. To play a game in Multiplayer, one player must host a save slot (it can be a new game), and other players can join that save. To host a save, select Multiplayer, then enter a name and select Host Game and select a slot to host.
To join a game, select Multiplayer, then enter a name and select Join. It will show a list of all friends currently hosting the game and you can select one to join, or you can manually input their name or IP address to join their game. You should also be able to join or invite people to play by right clicking them in steam chat. Our Discord server now has a #looking-for-players channel too - so check it out if you want to find someone to play with! Multiplayer has been tested for a while in a closed Alpha, and enjoyed by many folks when we showcased the game at PAX a few weeks ago. It should be mostly bug free at this point, but if you encounter any bugs, definitely let us know.
Thank you to all our dedicated fans for your patience and enthusiasm - we hope youre looking forward to Multiplayer going live in just a few short weeks, and the Full Launch next month!