Crossplay in ARC Raiders affects who can be matched with you and how quickly you may find a game—not whether a round is more friendly or more PvP-heavy. Embark says playstyle matching influences the kinds of encounters you are likely to have over time, but it is not a guarantee. Its official sources do not establish that PC players have a measurable PvP advantage over console players.
What crossplay changes in ARC Raiders
ARC Raiders supports cross-platform social play across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The official site lists Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and GeForce NOW as platforms: ARC Raiders official site.
With crossplay enabled, your matchmaking pool can include players on other supported platforms. Turning it off narrows that pool and may make queues slower. Embark’s help center identifies crossplay being off as a common reason matchmaking feels slow and recommends enabling it to help find games faster: Matchmaking Troubleshooting – PC/Console. This is not a promise of a particular wait time.
| Setting | Matchmaking pool | Queue implication | Playing with friends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crossplay on | Can include players across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC | A broader pool may help find a match faster | Allows cross-platform social play |
| Crossplay off | Narrower than the cross-platform pool | May make matchmaking slower | Cross-platform play is restricted |
These are the effects Embark documents; the company does not publish a numerical queue-time comparison for the two settings.
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Does crossplay change how much PvP you encounter?
No. In its May 20, 2026 explanation of matchmaking, the ARC Raiders Team stated: “Turning crossplay on or off does not impact the level of cooperation / PvP in the round.” The toggle changes who is in the matchmaking pool and can affect matchmaking time, not the round’s intended cooperation/PvP level. Read the full explanation in Notes on The Matchmaking System.
That means disabling crossplay is not a supported way to get friendlier lobbies or avoid fights. It also does not make a round safe from other Raiders: the game does not guarantee a PvE-only lobby.
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How playstyle matchmaking shapes encounters
Embark says matchmaking considers several factors. One of its strongest is playstyle across previous rounds, especially how a player engages with other Raiders. The system treats playstyle as a continuum, not two fixed categories such as “friendly” and “shoot on sight.” It also prioritizes equal squad sizes where possible and operates within constraints including queue time and latency.
The result is probabilistic: players with similar playstyles are more likely to meet, but no lobby is guaranteed to fit a particular style. Behavior changes the kinds of encounters a player is likely to have gradually across future rounds, rather than instantly. In its May 20, 2026 notes, Embark also said that defending yourself is treated differently from starting a fight, and that low-activity rounds carry less weight in a player’s playstyle history. Those are the developer’s descriptions of the system, not independently measured outcomes.
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Crossplay means PC and console players can share the matchmaking pool, but the official sources cited here do not compare mouse-and-keyboard with controller performance, quantify aim assist, or publish head-to-head PvP outcomes by platform. They also do not describe input-based matchmaking or provide a PC-versus-console comparison of frame rates or latency. Embark mentions latency as a matchmaking constraint in general, but does not report that one platform has lower latency.
So claims that PC players are categorically better at aiming, that controller aim assist balances the difference, or that either platform has a measured competitive edge are not established by these sources. The supported practical distinction is the platform pool: crossplay can connect players across platforms, while crossplay off narrows the pool.
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Check crossplay and region if matchmaking is slow
- Check the party’s crossplay settings. Embark says a party follows the most restrictive member’s setting. If one player has crossplay off, the group can queue with it off even if your own setting is on.
- Enable crossplay if you want the broader pool. The exact menu path for changing the crossplay setting is not specified in Embark’s troubleshooting guidance; check the game’s current settings menu.
- Set your server region to Automatic. On PC, open the gear menu, then select Gameplay > Server. On console, open Social, select the gear icon, then choose Gameplay > Server. These steps come from Embark’s matchmaking troubleshooting guide, last updated February 27, 2026.
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