**EDITOR’S NOTE: Playing together will be a blast, but we appreciate that you want to know when you can play Turtles with your friends. Today we confirmed that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City will be available Spring 2026 for $24.99, with Meta Quest pre-orders available now at a $20% discount**.

After revealing the combat of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City last month, there is one question that I’ve been asked time and time again: “that’s great,” they’d tell me, “but I want to play Turtles with people – so how does co-op work?”

The honest answer? It works pretty much however you want it to.

From the very beginning, freedom of expression was a key pillar in our design. We didn’t want co-op to feel like a rigid system of roles, rules, and forced mechanics. We didn’t want to tell you, “You’re the tank, you’re the healer, you’re the DPS – now go stand in your lane.” While every Turtle has their strengths and weaknesses based on their varied histories with the franchise, pre-defining them to a rigid class system felt wrong. The Turtles adapt and improvise, so we set out to build a flexible system to allow the player to do that too.

Co-Op as Unique as Your Play Style

Empire City’s co-op system isn’t about complicated combo trees or scripted team moves that you have to memorize. Even in solo, we want to give players to approach Empire City however they want. This is something we’ve talked about previously, so to recap, if your Donnie wants to focus on fast and furious bo attacks rather than tempered tactics, that’s totally up to you. Maybe your Raph thinks first and attacks second. It’s really up to you. Now think about what it looks like when four totally different players with different Turtles, each with their own unique play styles, preferences, and physical prowess, all come together to take down a rooftop full of Foot. 

It’s anarchy in the best way possible. There are simply no rules what what your co-operation looks like. How you’ll work together is entirely up to you, and every group you play with will end up having its own unique flare.

But but but…. Why would anyone want Raph to be anything but a tank?

Just because we’re striving to give players limitless freedom doesn’t mean we ignored who the Turtles are. Raph does naturally have more health, so he can lean into tanking more easily if you want,  but, as an example, if you choose to give up some of that survivability for mobility, you may want to appoint a new damage sponge, like a Michelangelo with the right health upgrades. 

Our goal is that when you and your friends play together, you start saying things like, “you handle this group, I’ll cover here,” not because the game told you to, but because you’ve figured out what works for your squad. It’s organic, flexible, and personal.

Progression That Supports Your Playstyle

All of this feeds into progression. As you move forward, the choices you make about upgrades and gear shape how you want to contribute to the team.

Some upgrades improve defense, augment offense, increase health, provide more mobility, control aggro and more. The various gadgets in the game serve as both offense or support functions. The combination of both may mean you build a Turtle that supports the team through heals, or thinning crowds through a devastating shuriken barrage to open fights.

We want your Turtle to be your Turtle. And when four of those come together, every group ends up feeling a little different. That’s something we’re really excited for players to discover once Empire City is in your hands.

What Family Looks Like

To keep us inspired and to make sure the theme of brotherhood stays top of mind for us as we work towards finishing the game, we commissioned the celebrated comics book artist Fero Pe to do an original work that captures the look and feel of the Turtles working together. Fero has an extensive modern history with the Turtles, providing art to IDW books ranging from TMNT: Nightwatcher to Turtles crossovers with Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Stranger Things. 

We asked Fero about his process for creating this piece. Here’s what he had to say.

Brothers in the Fight

At the end of the day, co-op in Empire City comes back to one simple idea: You’re not just playing alongside other players. You’re fighting as brothers. We’re building a game that lets you show up as the Turtle you want to be, trust your friends to do the same, and then see what kind of team you become together.

I can’t wait to see the brothers you create.

Pork Rind?
Ace