I have been bouncing between my PC and a console copy of Arc Raiders for weeks now, which means I have actually had to live with the crossplay settings rather than just read the menu screenshots, and the short version is that yes, Arc Raiders is crossplay, which is the same thing as cross-platform. Yes, it has cross-progression, or cross-save if you prefer that term, and the interesting part is everything either of those words quietly hides, which is the queue, the second purchase, and the Embark ID you have to link before the progress will follow you.
Crossplay is on, and it is on by default, so the moment you boot up you are in one big shared matchmaking pool with PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC players, and PC covers Steam, Epic, and GeForce Now. Nobody opts in, because you are already in, and for a co-op extraction game that is lovely, since I can drop into Speranza with a mate on Xbox while I am on PC and we never think about it again. The honest caveat I would want flagged early is that there is no proper console-only pool, and plenty of solo and PvE-leaning players want to dodge PC inputs, because the mismatch between aim assist and a mouse is real in a game where a clean headshot ends an encounter.
You can turn crossplay off, under Settings, then Gameplay, where you find the Crossplay toggle and switch it to Off, but Arc Raiders does not then sort you into a tidy consoles-together bucket. It only matches you with people on your exact platform who also turned crossplay off, and that is a small club, so the queues get long, fast, which is the trade nobody puts on the store page next to the word crossplay. The toggle is real, and it is a trade rather than a free win, so if you are genuinely bothered by the aim mismatch and you would rather wait than get clipped by a mouse player, flip it. If you mostly want bodies in the lobby so raids actually fill, leave it on, which is what I do, and I treat the odd PC sweat as the cost of fast matchmaking.
Your mileage will depend on how competitive your region’s pool is at the hour you play, which is why a quiet hour and a switched-off toggle can look like the same empty queue. Xbox players get a second, sneakier off-switch, because if the in-game toggle is not enough, the console itself can block cross-network play through Settings, then Account, then Privacy and online safety, then Xbox privacy, then View details & customize, then Communication & multiplayer, and you set You can join cross-network play to Block. It is a blunter hammer and it will affect other games too, so I would not reach for it first, though it exists if you want the platform enforcing it rather than trusting an in-game switch that only shrinks the club.
Cross-progression is the bit that actually changes how you buy the game, because your progress is not bolted to a platform, it is bolted to your Embark ID, which is Embark’s master account. Once you link your PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam or Epic logins to a single Embark ID, your loot, levels, quests, cosmetics, and Battle Pass all follow you everywhere, so you can swap from PC to console mid-evening and pick up exactly where you left off. The only friction I hit was a short tutorial prompt the first time I launched on a fresh platform, minor and one-time, and then it is seamless, which is a better class of annoyance than a missing locker.
The link is the bit people forget, so do it deliberately, set up your Embark ID once, and make sure every storefront account points at the same one, because if you get that wrong, two Embark IDs for example, you will think cross-progression is broken when really you have split yourself in half. One ID, with all platforms linked, and the progress stops looking broken for a reason that was only ever the account. Cross-progression is not cross-buy, though, because carrying your save across platforms does not mean you own the game on those platforms, and by default you buy Arc Raiders separately in each ecosystem, a PlayStation copy, an Xbox copy, and a PC copy.
The save travels, and the licence does not, which is worth knowing before you assume one purchase covers your whole setup and then discover a second store asking for the same money. The one genuine money-saver is Xbox Play Anywhere, because if you buy Arc Raiders digitally from the Microsoft Store, that single purchase grants both the Xbox Series X/S version and the Windows PC version via the Xbox app, two licences and one payment, and with your Embark ID linked the progress syncs between them. If you are an Xbox-plus-PC player, buying through the Microsoft Store rather than Steam is the move, and it is the only route here where you do not pay twice to play on both.
One caveat, so the expectation stays honest, is that this covers the game licence and not your premium currency, since if you buy Raider Tokens on PlayStation they tend to stay on PlayStation, and I would not want you discovering that after the tokens are already stuck on the box that keeps them. For the solo and PvE crowd, Arc Raiders gets the important things right, with progress that follows you, friends you can squad with regardless of box, and an actual off-switch if the aim mismatch is your hill. The asterisks are that off means tiny queues rather than a console pool, and cross-progression does not pay your second invoice unless you go the Xbox Play Anywhere route, so know those two and you will set it up correctly the first time instead of cursing the menu.
If you are still weighing whether to jump in at all, I went deep on that in my Arc Raiders worth-it verdict, and there is more solo-shooter coverage over on the intel index.
FAQ
Is Arc Raiders cross-platform?
Yes, Arc Raiders is fully cross-platform, because PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on Steam, Epic, and GeForce Now all share one matchmaking pool, and crossplay is on by default. Cross-platform play and crossplay are the same thing here, and you can toggle it off in Settings, then Gameplay, though there is no dedicated console-only pool if you do, so expect long queues.
Does Arc Raiders have cross-save?
Yes, cross-save, which Embark calls cross-progression, ties your loot, levels, quests, cosmetics, and Battle Pass to your Embark ID rather than the platform. Link your PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam or Epic accounts to one Embark ID and your save follows you across PC, PS5, and Xbox, which is the part that actually changes how you move between boxes in one evening.
Is Arc Raiders crossplay?
Yes, crossplay is enabled by default across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on Steam, Epic, and GeForce Now, and everyone shares one matchmaking pool. You can toggle it off in Settings, then Gameplay, but there is no dedicated console-only pool, so you will only match the handful of others who also turned it off, and you should expect long queues.
Does Arc Raiders have cross-progression?
Yes, progress is tied to your Embark ID rather than the platform, so link your PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam or Epic accounts to one Embark ID and your loot, levels, quests, cosmetics, and Battle Pass carry across every system. Get that link wrong and you will think the feature is broken, when what you have actually done is split yourself across two IDs.
Do I have to buy Arc Raiders twice to play on PC and Xbox?
Usually yes, because it is not cross-buy across ecosystems, and the one exception is Xbox Play Anywhere, where you buy the game digitally from the Microsoft Store and get both the Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC versions on one purchase. Progress still syncs via your Embark ID, so the save travels, and this is the only route where the licence travels with it.
How do you turn crossplay off in Arc Raiders?
Go to Settings, then Gameplay, and switch the Crossplay toggle to Off, and the catch is there is no console-only pool, so it only matches you with people on your exact platform who also turned it off. That means long queues, which is a real off switch and a bad one if what you wanted was a tidy console bucket rather than a smaller club.
Can Xbox players block crossplay another way in Arc Raiders?
Yes, the console itself can block cross-network play via Settings, Account, Privacy and online safety, Xbox privacy, then setting cross-network play to Block. It is a blunter hammer that affects other games too, so it is not the first thing to reach for, and I would only use it if you want the platform enforcing the rule rather than an in-game switch.
How do you avoid buying Arc Raiders twice on Xbox and PC?
Buy it digitally from the Microsoft Store via Xbox Play Anywhere, because that single purchase grants both the Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC versions, with progress synced through your Embark ID. It is the only route here where you do not pay twice, and it covers the game licence rather than premium currency, so Raider Tokens bought on PlayStation tend to stay on PlayStation.
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