Everything you need to know about Rainbow Six Siege cross-play

By Steven Rondina

|

Jun 4, 2021

Reading time: 3 min

Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most popular first-person shooters on the market and a big part of that is the fact that it’s available on a bunch of platforms. Naturally, that has people wanting to be able to play alongside their friends.

Cross-play is mostly standard at this point. Major titles from basically every genre offer users the ability to play with and against anyone whether they are on PC, console, or even mobile in some cases. From Fortnite to Street Fighter V to Teamfight Tactics, the walls between platforms are coming down.

But is that the case with Rainbow Six Siege? Here’s everything there is to know about cross-play in the game.

Does Rainbow Six Siege have cross-play?

Despite the popularity of Rainbow Six Siege, the game does not have cross-play. Despite being released on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, Rainbow Six Siege players are effectively on separate islands from one another with no way of playing.

The closest thing there is to cross-play in Rainbow Six Siege is the ability to play with other people across console generations. This means that people who own Rainbow Six Siege on PlayStation 4 are able to party up and play against people who are playing on a PlayStation 5, with the same being said for Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X players.

Unfortunately, for the time being, the console wars are still raging in the world of Rainbow Six Siege.

But that might not be the case forever.

Will Rainbow Six Siege ever get cross-play?

Ubisoft has confirmed that Rainbow Six Siege will be added to the game at some point. Game director Jean-Baptiste Halle told PC Gamer in an interview that the company is working hard to make this a reality.

“We’re actively working on cross-progression and cross-play. Within the realm of consoles, I think it would be great if PlayStation and Xbox could play together,” Halle said.

More recently, Ubisoft revealed that it may actually be coming quite soon. Cross-play is currently “being tested” with more details set to come later this month.

The benefits of allowing PlayStation and Xbox players to be matched together are fairly obvious. Not only does this offer a superior user experience, but it also consolidates the matchmaking pool in a way that reduces queue times. Halle notes that this is particularly important for regions where one console is disproportionately more popular than the other, which makes for brutally long queues in some cases.

That said, PC players will remain on their own island for the foreseeable future. Though Halle acknowledged that there are pros and cons to allowing all players the ability to party up and didn’t completely close the door on it, the mouse-and-keyboard vs. controller difference clearly had him squeamish on the idea.

More recently, Ubisoft revealed that it is testing cross-play between PC and “cloud gaming platforms.” More details are set to come later this month.

No information was given on when cross-play might arrive in Rainbow Six Siege. 

Does Rainbow Six Siege have cross-progression?

Rainbow Six Siege does not have cross-progression, but it is coming. At the moment, the only form of cross-progression in Rainbow Six Siege is the ability to migrate progress forward from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5, or Xbox One to Xbox Series X. Halle noted that cross-progression is development but did not confirm when it may come.

Recommended

How esports and online betting have become interconnected

Exploring the captivating Crossover between esports and online betting.

By William Davis

|

Mar 26, 2024

Minotaur Dragon's Dogma 2

How to beat Minotaurs in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Minotaurs can be quite dangerous but here’s how to deal with them.

By Olivia Richman

|

Mar 25, 2024