Good news everyone! Multiplayer is almost ready :).
Last week, we finished the 4th multiplayer beta test with over 500 people helping out - thanks to everyone who gave feedback. People are really enjoying it which is great to see - there are still a few technical issues that we are looking at but mainly we are focused on polish, gameplay balancing and lobby enhancements. I'm also adding in a new active ability called Benign Mimic which can be used to make your disease dormant in a country whilst also significantly increasing cure research against the other disease. This will help to counter a few particularly aggressive strategies that players have been using recently.
The plan is to start a public beta in the next week so keep an eye on the forums for more information if you are interested. After that, assuming things go smoothly - we are looking to formally release the multiplayer update to everyone in the next month. Will announce an actual date nearer the time.
The main focus is fully on multiplayer still but we have been also working on a tutorial and various other bits and pieces which will also be included when we release the multiplayer update. After that - the focus will be on Co-Op mode and final game polish to complete our early access plans so we can actually release the game! :)