There’s nothing more frustrating than planning a game night with your crew, only to realize half of you play on Xbox and the other half on PlayStation. If you’re a regular Rainbow Six Siege player, you’ve almost certainly asked can xbox and playstation play rainbow six siege together at least once, especially if you have friends who switched console generations or brands over the last few years. I ran into this exact problem back when my childhood cousin switched from Xbox Series X to PS5 last year, and we spent nearly an hour digging through menus and support threads trying to figure out why we couldn’t queue for a casual match together. We’ve tested every part of R6 Siege’s crossplay system, combed through official Ubisoft updates, and put together this guide to answer all your questions about cross-console play for the game.
Can Xbox and PlayStation Play Rainbow Six Siege Together Right Now?
The short answer is yes, but with a few small limitations that are important to know before you try to squad up. As of the latest game update, Xbox and PlayStation players can join the same lobbies for all non-ranked game modes, including casual, unranked, terrorist hunt, and custom private lobbies. Crossplay between the two console families is enabled by default for all console players, so you don’t have to mess with too many settings to get it working. Ubisoft rolled out cross-console play in 2022 after years of requests from the community, and it’s been one of the most popular quality-of-life updates the game has gotten in recent years. The only major gap right now is ranked mode, which we’ll cover in more detail later in this guide.
How to Set Up Crossplay Between Xbox and PlayStation for R6 Siege
Setting up crossplay between Xbox and PlayStation only takes a few minutes, as long as you have your Ubisoft Connect account information handy. Unlike some other games that use platform-specific friend lists, R6 Siege relies on Ubisoft’s own account system to connect players across different platforms, so you’ll need to add each other as Ubisoft friends first. Follow these simple steps to get your squad connected:
- Link both your Xbox and PlayStation accounts to Ubisoft Connect, then add each other as friends using your unique Ubisoft usernames (not your platform gamertags)
- Launch Rainbow Six Siege on your console, navigate to the settings menu, and confirm crossplay is enabled (it’s on by default, but many players turn it off to avoid matching with PC users)
- Open your in-game friends list, switch to the Ubisoft friends tab, and send a lobby invite to your friend on the opposite console
- Once they accept the invite, you can queue up for any eligible game mode together without extra steps
You don’t need any extra subscriptions beyond your standard console online service (Xbox Game Pass Core or PlayStation Plus Essential) to use crossplay, and there’s no extra fee for the feature. If you play on both Xbox and PlayStation, you can link both to the same Ubisoft account, but keep in mind your progress won’t carry over between the two platforms.
Key Restrictions for Xbox and PlayStation Crossplay in R6 Siege
While crossplay between Xbox and PlayStation works well for most use cases, there are a few important restrictions you should be aware of before you get your squad together. The biggest one is that ranked mode is not currently available for cross-console play, and Ubisoft has not announced a firm release date for this feature. The developer says it’s holding off on cross-console ranked to ensure competitive integrity, as there are still small performance differences between Xbox and PlayStation hardware that could create an unfair advantage for some players. Another key restriction is that PC crossplay is disabled by default for console players, and we recommend keeping it that way unless you specifically want to play with friends on PC. Mouse and keyboard input gives PC players a significant advantage over controller users, so you’ll likely have a much less fun experience if you enable PC crossplay by accident. Finally, all in-game purchases, including skins, Renown, battle pass progress, and operator unlocks, are tied to your specific platform account, so you won’t be able to access content you bought on Xbox if you switch to PlayStation, even if you use the same Ubisoft account. If you’re playing on a last-gen console (PS4 or Xbox One), you may also experience slightly longer queue times when playing with next-gen players, as the matchmaking pools are partially separated to keep performance consistent for all users.
Troubleshooting Common Crossplay Issues Between Xbox and PlayStation
Even if you follow all the setup steps correctly, you may run into small glitches when trying to play with friends on the opposite console, most of which are easy to fix. The most common issue is not being able to find your friend on your Ubisoft friends list, which is almost always caused by typing in their username wrong, or their Ubisoft profile being set to private. If invites aren’t sending or showing up, try restarting both your game and your console first – small server glitches happen all the time, and a quick restart fixes this problem 90% of the time. If you get a “mode not supported” error when trying to queue together, that almost always means you’re trying to join a ranked match, or one of you has crossplay disabled in your settings. Always double check both players’ crossplay settings first before trying more complicated troubleshooting steps, because it’s incredibly easy to toggle the setting off by accident when adjusting your controller or graphics settings. If you’re still having issues, you can check Ubisoft’s official server status page to see if there are any ongoing outages for crossplay services, which are rare but do happen occasionally during big patch launches or events.
Crossplay between Xbox and PlayStation has made Rainbow Six Siege a far more social game for millions of players, and it’s never been easier to squad up with friends no matter what console they own. The answer to can xbox and playstation play rainbow six siege together is a resounding yes for all casual and unranked modes, and setup only takes a few minutes once you link your Ubisoft accounts. While the lack of cross-console ranked is disappointing for competitive players, Ubisoft has hinted that it’s coming in a future update, so keep an eye on official patch notes for more news. At the end of the day, the best part of crossplay is getting to mess around with your friends in casual matches, even if they swear their loss is because of controller drift instead of you being the better player.
