I’ve been playing Rainbow Six Siege regularly since Year 3, and one of the most common questions I get from new and returning players is can you cross play Rainbow Six Siege with friends on different systems. It’s a fair ask too—most modern shooters let you squad up across platforms without hassle, so it makes sense to assume Siege would do the same. I switched from PS4 to PC last year, and I spent weeks testing cross play functionality to stay in touch with my console-based squad, so I’ve got first-hand experience with every quirk and restriction of the feature.
Can You Cross Play Rainbow Six Siege Across All Platforms?
The short answer is yes, but with a pretty big caveat. Ubisoft rolled out full cross play support for all console platforms in 2022, as part of the Year 7 Operation Vector Glare update. That means players on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and Xbox One can all squad up and match against each other in almost every game mode, no extra setup needed beyond enabling cross play in your settings.
PC and console player pools are permanently separated for all ranked and casual matches, though, and Ubisoft has repeatedly stated they have no plans to merge these pools in the future. The decision comes down to competitive integrity: mouse and keyboard input gives PC players a significant advantage in aim and reaction time over controller users, so mixing the two groups would create an unfair playing field for console players. Even if you use a controller on PC, you’ll still be placed in the PC player pool and matched against other PC users, regardless of your input method.
Cloud gaming platforms fit into this system based on which version of the game you’re running. If you play the PC build of Siege on GeForce Now or Amazon Luna, you’ll be in the PC pool. If you play the console build via Xbox Cloud Gaming or PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming, you’ll be placed in the console pool and can play with other console users as normal. Cross play is enabled by default for all players, but you can toggle it off in the general settings menu if you only want to match against users on your exact platform.
Key Cross Play Restrictions You Need to Know
While cross play works seamlessly for most casual use cases, there are a handful of limitations you should be aware of before you try to squad up with cross-platform friends. Most of these restrictions are designed to protect competitive fairness, but a few are holdovers from platform ecosystem policies that Ubisoft can’t change on their own.
First, cross play is not supported for custom tournament lobbies hosted by third-party organizers. Most amateur and semi-pro Siege tournaments require all players to be on the same platform to eliminate any potential input or performance advantages, so cross play is automatically disabled for these lobbies even if all players have the setting turned on. You can still use cross play for private custom lobbies with friends, though, as long as all players are in the console or PC pool.
Supported cross play pairings break down as follows:
- PS5 ↔ Xbox Series X/S, PS4 ↔ Xbox One (all casual, ranked, and quick play modes)
- PS5 ↔ PS4, Xbox Series X/S ↔ Xbox One (same-ecosystem cross generation play)
- PC ↔ PC (including all cloud gaming services running the PC build of Siege)
- Console cloud gaming builds ↔ all supported console platforms
You cannot turn off cross generation play if you are on a new generation console (PS5/Xbox Series X/S) unless you manually install the last-gen version of the game on your console. New gen consoles run the optimized next-gen build by default, which matches with both last-gen and new-gen console players automatically. If you install the PS4 or Xbox One build on your new console, you’ll only match against other last-gen players, but you’ll lose access to next-gen features like 120fps support and faster load times. Text chat is also restricted between different console ecosystems: PS users can’t receive text messages from Xbox users, and vice versa, though voice chat works across all console platforms without issue.
How Cross Progression Works With Cross Play
Cross play is often confused with cross progression, and while the two features work together, they function very differently. Full cross progression was added to Siege alongside cross play in 2022, and it’s tied directly to your Ubisoft Connect account, not your platform account. That means any skins, operators, battle pass progress, or in-game currency you earn on one platform will be available on every other platform you link to your Ubisoft Connect account, no extra purchases needed.
Your competitive rank progress is tied to your player pool (PC or console), not your Ubisoft account, though. If you reach Diamond rank on Xbox, your rank will reset to unranked if you log into the same Ubisoft account on PC, and you’ll have to play placement matches all over again. Your console rank will still be there when you log back into your Xbox account, though, so you don’t have to worry about losing progress if you switch platforms temporarily.
There are a few limitations to cross progression too. Purchases made before cross progression launched in 2022 can’t be merged across accounts, so if you bought a premium skin on PS4 in 2021 before linking your account to Ubisoft Connect, that skin won’t be available on your Xbox account. You can link up to four console accounts to one Ubisoft Connect account, but you can’t transfer progress between different Ubisoft accounts, so make sure you link all your platform accounts to the same Ubisoft profile to avoid losing access to your content. If you unlink a platform account from your Ubisoft Connect account, you’ll lose access to all progress and purchases tied to that platform account until you relink it, so don’t unlink accounts unless you absolutely have to.
Tips to Fix Common Cross Play Issues
I’ve run into almost every cross play issue imaginable while trying to squad up with my console-based friends, so I’ve got a list of quick fixes that resolve 90% of common problems without having to contact Ubisoft support. Most of these issues come down to incorrect settings or mismatched account links, so they’re easy to fix on your own in a few minutes.
The most common issue is not being able to join a friend’s lobby, even if you can see them online. First, double check that both you and your friend have cross play enabled in your general settings menu. If one of you has cross play turned off, you won’t be able to join each other’s lobbies. If cross play is enabled for both of you, make sure you’re both in the same player pool: if you’re on PC and your friend is on Xbox, you won’t be able to squad up no matter what settings you have enabled.
If voice chat isn’t working with cross-platform friends, the issue is almost always that you’re using platform party chat instead of in-game chat. Always use the in-game Ubisoft voice chat instead of platform party chat when playing with cross-platform friends, because PSN and Xbox party chat don’t work across different ecosystems. The in-game voice chat works perfectly across all console platforms, and it has built-in mute and volume adjustment tools so you can tweak your audio settings on the fly.
If you can’t see a cross-platform friend on your in-game friends list, you probably added them via their platform ID instead of their Ubisoft Connect username. Add friends via their Ubisoft Connect username, not their platform ID, to avoid cross-platform friend list issues. Platform friends only show up if you’re on the same ecosystem, but Ubisoft Connect friends show up across all platforms, so you can easily squad up with anyone no matter what system they’re on. If you’re still having issues, log out of your Ubisoft Connect account and log back in, that usually refreshes your friends list and fixes any missing profile issues.
Now you have a clear answer to can you cross play Rainbow Six Siege, plus all the extra details you need to squad up with friends no matter what console they’re on. It’s a shame PC and console players can’t play together, but the separate pools make sense for competitive fairness, and Ubisoft has done a good job of making console cross play work seamlessly for almost every use case. I play with my cousin on Xbox every weekend now that cross play works, and it’s made the game way more fun for both of us, since we don’t have to buy a second console to squad up. If you run into any rare issues not covered here, you can check the official Ubisoft support page for the latest troubleshooting tips and feature updates.
