The Nintendo Switch version of Civilization 6 does not have online multiplayer, publisher 2K has confirmed to Eurogamer.

Multiplayer is limited to local play only.

Alarm bells began to ring when perceptive Reddit user WinneonSword spotted something a little odd with the Civilization 6 Switch eShop listing, which specifically states one to four people can play over "local wireless". Similarly, I checked out the British version of the store, which says "up to four players can cooperate or compete for supremacy via a wireless LAN". Unlike other upcoming multiplayer games on the store (such as Warframe, Diablo and Pokémon Let's Go), there is no mention of online multiplayer in the Civilization 6 eShop description.

Fans speculated online multiplayer would arrive in a later patch, but Eurogamer has received confirmation from 2K that the game will not have online multiplayer on the Switch, full stop.

"Civilization 6 for Nintendo Switch includes support for local cooperative and competitive multiplayer for up to four players via a Wireless Network," a 2K spokesperson said via email. "It will not have online multiplayer."

Some good scouting by WinneonSword.

This is obviously a blow to fans, many of whom were hoping to play Civilization 6 with friends over the internet. "If online multiplayer is not added in a day 1 patch, I personally will be hard-pressed to buy the game," original poster WinneonSword stated. "The online function has been one of the primary ways I played the game and its predecessors on PC."

Other players, however, say that the news does not particularly phase them as Civilization games provide a "solid single-player experience". Yet it does seem a bit of a shame to limit multiplayer to only local games. Civilization 6 is encouraging us to go back in time to LAN parties, I guess?