PEAK Review: The Best Seven Dollars You Can Spend on Console Co-op

PEAK has been the friend-group game on PC since its June 2025 launch, and on 22 October 2026 Aggro Crab and Landfall finally brought it to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. The price stayed absurd: $6.99 digital, which works out at about 7 euros in Europe (the Steam version is 7.49 euros). I spent the week climbing with a mixed console and PC group, and the short version is that nothing about the magic got lost on the way.

What it is

One to four lost scouts on an island, one mountain, and the only objective is to get to the top alive. You manage stamina, hunger and injuries, haul supplies, place ropes and pitons, and constantly decide whether that weird mushroom is dinner or a death sentence. The island layout regenerates every 24 hours, so the route your group memorised yesterday is gone today.

How it plays on console

The console versions launch with everything the PC version has gained since release: new biomes, more items and the Final Ascent update, which adds an alternate ending that asks you to collect four gems along the way. Full cross-play is in across all platforms, so the PC friend who has 200 hours can drag you up the cliff. Proximity chat is included too, and it is the secret ingredient - hearing a friend's voice fade as they slide off a ledge is still the funniest thing in co-op gaming.

Pad controls work better than I expected. Climbing is about reading the wall and rationing stamina rather than precise aiming, so a controller feels natural.

The highs

Every run produces a story. Someone eats the wrong berry, someone else has to carry them, the rope runs out one ledge too early, and you all laugh about it for days. The physics-driven clumsiness is deliberate and it creates exactly the kind of chaos that makes the genre work. And at this price there is no argument for anyone in your group not to buy it.

The lows

Solo, PEAK is a much smaller game. The systems are there, but without other people messing up, the climb becomes a grind. The early stamina limits can also feel punishing for newcomers before you learn how the body and status systems actually work. Content-wise, once your group has seen every biome, the daily island is what keeps you coming back - if that does not hook you, the shelf life is a few weekends.

Who it's for

Anyone with two or three friends and a voice channel. If your group plays across different systems, the cross-play makes this the easiest co-op pitch of the year. PS5 owners who want a box on the shelf can wait for the physical edition on 9 December ($19.99 / 19.99 euros, with a code for a free digital copy for a friend).

Verdict

PEAK on console is the same brilliant, chaotic co-op climb, complete with every update, cross-play and proximity chat, for less than a pizza. Skip it if you only play alone; everyone else should rope up.

Score: 8/10

Image: Gary Clark / CC BY-SA 3.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Climbers_on_the_SW_Ridge_of_Mt._Hunter,_Alaska.jpg