What the online mode is
Online play arrived with Repentance+, a free add-on that sits on top of Repentance. It puts up to four players in one run.
The mode runs on PC only. No console has Repentance+ yet, though Nicalis has said the full collection will reach next-generation hardware.
Nicalis still labels online play a beta. The same announcement calls the build a full-featured release. Read that as a label, not a warning.
What every player has to own
The ownership chain catches people out. Online play needs Rebirth, Afterbirth, Afterbirth+ and Repentance together.
Repentance+ costs nothing, but it will not install without Repentance. A friend who stopped at Afterbirth+ cannot enter your lobby.
Check your own main menu. When the whole chain is installed and enabled in Steam, an Online entry appears beside the single-player options.
Turning on Steam to Epic crossplay
Crossplay shipped in build 1.9.7.16 on 11 April 2026. No switch for it exists anywhere in the game menus.
The setting lives in a text file. Close the game first, then open OPTIONS.INI in Documents\My Games\Binding of Isaac Repentance+.
Its last line reads EosCrossplay=0. Change the value and save.
| Value | What it does |
|---|---|
0 or 1 | Crossplay off. A session behaves exactly as it did before crossplay existed. |
2 | Crossplay on. Public lobbies can hold Steam players, Epic players, or both. |
3 | Crossplay on, plus Epic account linking. The game asks you to link on startup. |
Value 3 also opens Epic friend lobbies, the Epic friends list, achievement viewing, invitations, and direct joins into an Epic friend’s lobby.
Pick 3 only if you know people on Epic. Otherwise 2 does the same job without the linking screen on every launch.
The four ways to start a match
| Entry | Who ends up in the run |
|---|---|
| Quick Match | Random players chosen for you |
| Public Match | A lobby you open to strangers |
| Friend Match | A private lobby you invite people into |
| Online Daily Run | Your whole group plays the same daily seed |
All four sit under the Online entry in the main menu.
What changes once you are online
Consumables are shared. Coins, bombs and keys belong to the team rather than to one player.
Health and items stay individual. Every player keeps a character slot and a separate item pool.
Bosses drop items for every player, not only the host. A friend joining a run in progress gets catch-up items scaled to how far the run has gone.
That catch-up has a price. You cannot unlock achievements in a run you joined partway through. Join at the first room if unlocks matter to you.
A revive machine can bring a dead teammate back. Its price climbs every time the team uses it.
Online covers Normal, Hard, Greed, Greedier and Challenge modes, along with daily and seeded runs.
Mods are off online
Workshop mods do not carry into an online run. Nicalis changed the mod API with Repentance+, so clients holding different mods desync.
External Item Descriptions is the usual casualty. If you lean on it, plan to play without it.
The game now ships its own item text. Pick an item up once and its description unlocks in your collection.
That feature came in build 1.9.7.13 on 10 September 2025. It stays locked until you have beaten Mom.
Chat commands worth knowing
The text chat takes two commands. /mute <name> hides a player, and /unmute <name> restores them.
You do not need the full username. A unique fragment is enough.
Two habits before you host
Back up your save file first. Players have reported scrambled completion marks after online sessions.
Progress has survived for most of them. The display is what breaks, and a backup costs you nothing.
Report bugs to [email protected]. Nicalis shipped crossplay as a public test and asks for findings.
Next: Unlocking progression and Seeds and easter eggs.