Yes, ARC Raiders is crossplay. PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S players all share one matchmaking pool, and the setting is turned on by default the first time you launch the game. You don’t need to link accounts or dig through menus to play with a friend on a different platform — it already works that way unless someone actively switches it off.
That’s the quick answer. But there’s more worth knowing if you actually want to squad up tonight, especially since crossplay broke for everyone in late April 2026 and a lot of older guides still don’t mention it got fixed. Here’s the full picture.
How ARC Raiders Crossplay Actually Works
ARC Raiders uses a single account system called your Embark ID to tie your progress and friends list together across every platform. When crossplay is on, the game doesn’t separate players by hardware at all — a three-person squad can genuinely be one PC player, one PS5 player, and one Xbox player, all dropped into the same raid together.
Embark Studios built this the same way it handled crossplay in its earlier game, The Finals, so the studio wasn’t starting from scratch. The practical effect is a much healthier matchmaking pool than a platform-locked shooter gets, which matters more in an extraction shooter than in most genres — you lose everything you’re carrying if you die, so a thin, slow-to-fill lobby isn’t just annoying, it changes how the game plays.
Which Platforms Can Play Together
PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S all sit in the same crossplay pool. On PC specifically, it doesn’t matter whether you bought the game on Steam or the Epic Games Store — both storefronts feed into the same matchmaking system, and GeForce Now streaming works the same way too.
Nintendo Switch and mobile aren’t part of this at all, because ARC Raiders isn’t officially released on either platform. If you see a guide claiming otherwise, or offering a workaround “mobile version,” treat it skeptically — the only real way to play on a phone is streaming your own PC session to it through remote-desktop software, which isn’t crossplay in any meaningful sense.
How to Add Cross-Platform Friends
Open the Social menu, select Add Friend, and enter your friend’s Embark ID — a name followed by four numbers, like RaiderJoe#1234. That ID works as a universal handle regardless of what platform either of you is on, so once someone accepts the invite, you can party up and queue into the same raid together.
This is worth knowing because platform-native invites can be inconsistent for cross-platform parties — trying to invite someone through your PlayStation dashboard when they’re on Xbox often just doesn’t work. Using the in-game Embark ID system through the Social menu is the reliable path, and it’s also how the game manages cross-platform voice chat.
Can You Turn Crossplay Off?
Yes. Go to Settings, then Gameplay, and toggle Crossplay off — this locks your matchmaking to players on your exact platform only. There’s no in-between setting, and no way to combine “off for some platforms, on for others.”
Here’s the part that catches console players off guard: turning crossplay off doesn’t create a combined console pool. A PS5 player who disables it isn’t grouped with Xbox players — they’re grouped with other PS5 players only, and vice versa. If your actual goal is “avoid PC players but still play with any console friend,” ARC Raiders simply doesn’t offer that option. It’s full crossplay or platform-isolated, nothing in between.
Is There a Console-Only Matchmaking Pool?
No, and this is one of the more debated design choices in the game. Some extraction shooters and battle royales let console players opt into a shared PS5/Xbox pool that still excludes PC, giving a middle ground between “face everyone” and “face almost no one.” ARC Raiders doesn’t have that option at launch or as of mid-2026.
The tradeoff is real: staying platform-locked as a console player means significantly longer queue times and thinner lobbies, since only a small slice of the overall player base is on any single console. Most players end up leaving crossplay on for that reason alone, even if they’d prefer a console-only bubble in principle.
The Input Advantage Question (Mouse vs. Controller)
ARC Raiders does not separate players by input method the way some crossplay shooters do. Mouse-and-keyboard players and controller players land in the same lobbies regardless of platform, which means a PS5 player using DualSense aim assist can end up in a firefight against a PC player with a mouse.
This is genuinely the most-debated crossplay detail in ARC Raiders’ community, and it’s worth being upfront about it rather than glossing over it the way a lot of quick guides do: mouse precision is a real edge in close-range gunfights, and console players report it more often than PC players bring it up. If aim precision matters to you specifically, that’s a stronger reason to test crossplay-off than queue times ever will be.
Does Crossplay Include Cross-Progression?
Yes — separately from matchmaking, ARC Raiders also supports cross-progression through your Embark ID, so your gear, currency, and account progress carry over if you play on more than one platform. That said, cross-progression doesn’t mean cross-ownership: you still need to buy ARC Raiders on each platform’s storefront individually, with one specific exception. Buying through the Microsoft Store unlocks both the Xbox and Windows PC versions from a single purchase, similar to how Xbox Play Anywhere titles work elsewhere.
What Happened to Crossplay in April 2026 (And Is It Fixed Now?)
This is the detail almost no current guide mentions, and if you searched this exact question a few months ago, you may have run into it firsthand. When Embark shipped the Riven Tides update (patch 1.26.0) on April 28, 2026, it accidentally disabled crossplay for every platform — the toggle appeared greyed out in Settings, and players on PC, PS5, and Xbox were stuck matchmaking only within their own platform with no way to turn it back on.
Embark’s community team acknowledged the bug within a day on the official Discord and offered a temporary workaround: fully resetting game settings to default restored crossplay, at the cost of wiping custom control and accessibility settings. The real fix came two days later, on April 30, 2026, with hotfix patch 1.26.1, which Embark confirmed resolved the issue directly: “This fix solves the issue with crossplay that was introduced in the Riven Tides update.” Crossplay has functioned normally since that hotfix, with no further widespread reports of it breaking as of August 2026.
The reason this matters for anyone reading a guide today: if an article you’re comparing this one against was written or last updated between late April and early May 2026, there’s a real chance it’s describing the outage as a current problem instead of a resolved one. Always check the update date on anything reporting a live bug.
ARC Raiders Crossplay at a Glance
- Platforms included: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, GeForce Now), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
- Default state: On, from first launch
- How to disable it: Settings > Gameplay > Crossplay
- Console-only pool: Not available — disabling crossplay isolates you to your single platform, not a shared console pool
- Input-based matchmaking: Not used — mouse-and-keyboard and controller players share lobbies
- Cross-progression: Yes, tied to your Embark ID
- Cross-buy: No, except through the Microsoft Store (unlocks Xbox and PC together)
- Not supported: Nintendo Switch, mobile (no official version exists on either)
5. FAQ
Is ARC Raiders crossplay between PC and PS5?
Yes. PC and PS5 players share the same matchmaking pool by default, along with Xbox Series X/S, through the game’s Embark ID system.
Is ARC Raiders crossplay between PS5 and Xbox only?
No. There’s no console-only matchmaking pool. Disabling crossplay isolates you to your single platform rather than combining PS5 and Xbox into a shared console pool.
How do I turn off crossplay in ARC Raiders?
Go to Settings, then Gameplay, and toggle Crossplay off. This restricts matchmaking to players on your exact platform only.
Do PC players have an advantage in ARC Raiders crossplay lobbies?
Potentially, yes. The game doesn’t use input-based matchmaking, so mouse-and-keyboard players and controller players share lobbies regardless of platform, and mouse precision can matter in close-range fights.
Was ARC Raiders crossplay broken recently?
Yes. The April 28, 2026 Riven Tides update disabled crossplay for all platforms. Embark Studios fixed it two days later with hotfix patch 1.26.1, and it has worked normally since.
Does ARC Raiders have cross-progression as well as crossplay?
Yes. Your gear, currency, and progress carry across platforms through your Embark ID, though you still need to buy the game separately on each storefront, except through the Microsoft Store.
Can I play ARC Raiders crossplay on Nintendo Switch or mobile?
No. ARC Raiders has no official Switch or mobile release, so neither platform is part of the crossplay pool.
Do I need to link my Steam, PSN, and Xbox accounts for crossplay to work?
No manual linking is required for matchmaking. Your Embark ID handles crossplay automatically — you only need it as a specific ID to add cross-platform friends.
