How to Use (and Disable) Crossplay in ARC Raiders

Guide
Written By NLM Team

A quick guide to adding your friends, disabling PC players, and understanding who you're really playing against.

A screenshot from arc raiders depicting two Raiders aiming weapons at a huge, glowing spider-mech amid the rubble of a dusty, destroyed city street.

ARC Raiders is a social game. It's best with friends, and it's always on by default with full crossplay. But the system for adding friends isn't as simple as just using your Steam or Xbox list, and the matchmaking has its own set of rules.

Here's my no-nonsense (Cause we know how much people love filler) guide to how it all works.

How to Invite Your Crossplay Friends

You can't just add your friend's Steam name or PSN ID. The entire system runs on Embark IDs. You and your friends will all need to find yours.

1. Find Your Embark ID

  1. From the main menu, select the "+" icon above the "Play" button to open the party menu.

  2. In the bottom-left, select "Manage Your Embark ID".

  3. This will open a page showing your display name and your full ID (it looks like YourName#1234).

  4. This is the ID you need to share.

2. Add Your Friend's ID

  1. Go back to the party menu.

  2. In the top-right, click the big yellow "ADD FRIEND" button.

  3. Type in your friend's full Embark ID (Name#1234) and send the request.

Once they accept, they'll show up on your in-game friends list, and you can invite them to your squad regardless of whether they're on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox.

How Matchmaking Actually Works (It's Not Your Gear)

Let's clear this up, because I see this question constantly.

  • There is NO gear-based or loot-score matchmaking. I've confirmed this in another post. Bringing in your best kit will not put you in "Chad-only" lobbies.

  • There is NO input-based matchmaking. Controller players and mouse/keyboard players are all in the same pool by default.

The only thing the game tries to do is matchmake based on party size. If you queue as a solo, the game will attempt to fill your lobby with other solo players. If you queue as a full trio, you'll be matched with other trios.

However, the game prioritizes filling lobbies, so this is not a guarantee. As a solo, you will still run into duos and trios, so stay paranoid.

How to Disable Crossplay (If You Really Want To)

If you're a console player and you're just sick of getting domed by PC snipers (or you're worried about cheaters), you can turn crossplay off.

  1. From the main menu, go to Settings (the cog wheel icon).

  2. Navigate to the Gameplay tab.

  3. Find the Online section.

  4. Toggle Crossplay to "Off".

The Pros and Cons of Turning It Off

This one is a simple trade-off.

  • The Pro: You're in a "walled garden." If you're on PlayStation, you will only play with other PlayStation users who also have crossplay turned off. This is the only way to 100% guarantee you won't face mouse-and-keyboard players.

  • The Con: You have drastically shrunk your player pool. This will almost certainly lead to longer queue times and a higher chance of being put in a high-ping, laggy server in another region.

My advice? Leave it on unless you have a really good reason to turn it off. A bigger community and faster queues are almost always worth it.

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