- Primary Subject: Why Every Multiplayer Shooter Needs to Have Friendly Fire
- Key Update: The article argues that mandatory friendly fire should be a genre standard to improve player precision, increase tactical unpredictability, and foster memorable social interactions.
- Status: Confirmed (Refers to existing mechanics in 2026 hits like Helldivers 2 and ARC Raiders)
- Last Verified: January 28, 2026
- Quick Answer: Friendly fire forces precision and situational awareness, preventing lazy gameplay while fostering unpredictable social interaction and memorable, hilarious moments that deepen player skill and engagement.
When it comes to multiplayer games, the shooter genre is arguably one of, if not the most popular. People love the idea of using guns or whatever ranged weaponry to take down both AI and real opponents, which is why developers create quality games that provide just that, like the Call of Duty series, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and so on.
Aside from armaments and enemies, an integral aspect of multiplayer shooters is the people you play with, better known as your teammates. They are the human-controlled characters you'll be fighting alongside, and working with them is essential in attaining victory.
While teammates are often supposed to be a reliable source of support, some multiplayer shooters have a feature that allows a group to eliminate one another, whether intentionally or not. This is what's called friendly fire, and I believe it must become a standard in future games of the genre.
Although it's not something everyone would enjoy, given the kind of mayhem it can cause, the feature becoming customary actually brings a ton of benefits. One of the positives is that it can help develop a person's skills.
In multiplayer shooters without friendly fire, players can simply use whatever weapons they have in their arsenal without a care in the world, since there are little to no consequences other than potentially running out of ammo. Fun as that may be, it can also be a detriment, as it doesn't teach people how to aim properly or care for their surroundings. It promotes a certain sense of laziness, which could carry over to other games and become an issue there, too.
However, multiplayer shooters with friendly fire do the exact opposite. Since there's a possibility you could end up gunning down your own teammates, you'll likely be more careful with your shots. This helps improve your ability to aim at the right targets and increase your accuracy, which is important when playing any shooter.
If you want a good example of a game with friendly fire that does this well, you only need to take a look at Helldivers 2. The game centers around PvE, but because of the feature, allies can be just as dangerous or even more so than the opposition. Those who play the game have become skilled marksmen with great movement and situational awareness, all because the friendly fire forces them to be.
Another benefit of making the friendly fire feature a standard in multiplayer shooters is that it makes gameplay more unpredictable. People working together towards a goal can lead to some fun moments, but it can also get quite monotonous and boring if you already know what to do, where enemies are, and how they'll react when taking them on.
With friendly fire, there is now an additional factor that makes things more exciting, as human-based actions bring a level of uncertainty that keeps you on your toes at all times. For example, at any given point in time, someone might take a gamble by shooting a powerful weapon that could either secure the victory or lead to everyone's demise. While that could result in annoyance or frustration at times, it at least means you'll experience something that alleviates the boredom that would have been there without friendly fire.
The final reason future multiplayer shooters would benefit from the feature and need to have it is that it allows for more hilarity in gameplay. While accidentally or intentionally shooting and eliminating a teammate will always be considered a bad move, there is no denying that, in certain situations, it can lead to an amusing moment that many will likely never forget.
With friendly fire on, you'll likely find yourself in many situations where you or your team will be responsible for everyone's demise, yet laughing with them because of how it happened. Basically, it can make the game more fun and ensure people are bound to have a good time, which is always a good thing.
Understandably, there are those against the idea of friendly fire, given that it guarantees the presence of trolls and griefers who will do everything possible to ruin the experience for others. However, such an issue can be circumvented with things like giving people the ability to kick annoying assailants or implementing a feature similar to ARC Raiders, where player killers are matched with others like them if they continuously give in to their violent tendencies.
Friendly fire has its issues, but given the number of positives it brings, it's certainly ideal for future multiplayer shooters to implement it. Since there are a good number of games in the genre that have found moderate to high success with the feature, there's a chance we'll see more of them being developed.
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