Is Rainbow Six Siege cross-play? PC, Xbox & PlayStation guide
Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most popular and competitive FPS titles in the world, and developers Ubisoft have finally confirmed that cross-play is coming to the game this year.
Cross-play has become the industry standard for multiplayer games. Gaming has never been more connected, with players across Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Switch, and even mobile playing together.
What’s also begun to rise in popularity is the free-to-play model. Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, Apex Legends, and more all offer their full multiplayer experience for free with cross-play across multiple platforms.
After years of asking for the feature, Ubisoft is finally bringing crossplay to Rainbox Six Siege, although delays along with a staggered rollout mean it isn’t live just yet. Here’s everything you need to know about cross-platform play in Rainbow Six Siege.
- Rainbow Six Siege PC cross-play
- Rainbow Six Siege console cross-play
- How to turn of cross-play in Rainbow Six Siege
- Cross-progression in Rainbow Six Siege
- Will Rainbow Six Siege go free-to-play?
Rainbow Six Siege PC cross-play
Rainbow Six Siege does feature crossplay on PC, but only between Siege owners on Steam, Epic Games, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna.
Ubisoft have yet to officially confirm whether PC players will be able to join up with Xbox or PlayStation players, but in the past, they made it clear they didn’t intend to do so.
Rainbow Six Siege console cross-play
Rainbow Six Siege already supports cross-generation lobbies, allowing PS4 and PS5 players to team up together, and Xbox One and Series X players to compete against each other.
Full cross-platform play, which will allow console players to join lobbies together regardless of whether they own PlayStation or Xbox is coming soon, tentatively scheduled for the end of 2022.
Cross-play was initially set to launch earlier this year, but with technical obstacles and challenges to overcome, decided to delay its release to make sure it was working properly.
How to turn off cross-play in Rainbow Six Siege
If you’re not keen on playing with players from different consoles than your own, it is possible to turn off cross-play in the game’s settings. If you should decide to do this, then fair warning – this will likely make it harder to find games.
To turn off Rainbow Six Siege cross-play:
- Open Rainbow Six Siege, and go to the settings menu by selecting the ‘cog wheels’ on the top-right.
- Head to the General section, and scroll down to Crossplay Matchmaking.
- Set it to off, then move to Crossplay Communication and turn it off too.
Rainbow Six Siege cross-progression
On top of cross-play, Rainbow Six Siege will also be getting cross-progression at the end of 2022. That means your inventory will carry from one platform to another, free of charge, as long as they are linked on the Ubisoft website.
It’s important to note that your rank won’t transfer with you though. For example, if you’re Platinum on your console, don’t expect to log in on PC and see the rank there. Ubisoft will also be unable to refund players who purchase items on two different platforms.
Will Rainbow Six Siege go free-to-play?
With the free-to-play model being so popular in the industry, Rainbow Six Siege’s devs have previously discussed the possibility that the game will be free in the future.
Speaking to PCGamer in 2020, Siege game director Leroy Athanassoff discussed making the game free-to-play. They said, “We want the game to be accessible to everyone,” but there are certain hurdles that must be overcome first.
The main issue is smurfing – when an experienced player creates a new account to match against newer and lesser-skilled players. NICKMERCS has previously shown the power of smurfing in Warzone, and Siege’s devs are worried that it would plague Siege if it ever became free-to-play.
So, Siege may become free-to-play in the future, but the devs first need Siege to have “certain features ready to be a good and successful free-to-play game.”
Image Credit: Ubisoft