Best free crossplay games to play with friends tonight
Best free crossplay games to play with friends tonight
If you want to get a group session going right now, these three free crossplay games cover the widest range of platforms and skill levels: Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Brawlhalla. Fortnite connects PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and mobile in the same lobby. Apex Legends covers PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Brawlhalla supports all five major platforms including mobile, and is a friendly pick for groups with mixed experience.
Quick-glance picks for tonight:- Fortnite — PC / PlayStation / Xbox / Switch / mobile; best for battle royale squads of up to four
- Apex Legends — PC / PlayStation / Xbox; best for competitive three-player squads
- Brawlhalla — PC / PlayStation / Xbox / Switch / mobile; best for casual party fighting up to eight players
| Game | Platforms | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fortnite | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch, mobile | Battle royale squads |
| Apex Legends | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series | Competitive three-player squads |
| Brawlhalla | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch, mobile | Casual party fighting nights |
Platform availability verified via Eneba's cross-platform games hub and Pickthe's live compatibility database. Last checked: June 2026.
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Table of Contents
- What are the best free crossplay games right now?
- How does crossplay actually work for each of these games?
- How does crossplay work in practice: accounts, matchmaking, and networks
- How to choose which free crossplay game suits your group
- Practical tips for a smooth crossplay game night
- Key takeaways
- Why the best free crossplay games are only half the problem
- How Pickthe helps your group pick and start playing faster
- Useful sources for crossplay and platform availability
What are the best free crossplay games right now?
The twelve titles below represent the strongest options for groups who want to play together across different platforms with no initial cost. Cross-platform compatibility is confirmed for each, and the monetisation column tells you exactly what is free and what is not.
| Game | Platforms | Best for | Crossplay type | Monetisation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fortnite | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch, mobile | Battle royale squads | Full crossplay | Free; battle pass optional |
| Apex Legends | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series | Competitive squads | Full crossplay | Free; cosmetic microtransactions |
| Rocket League | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch | Competitive vehicle football | Full crossplay | Free; cosmetic microtransactions |
| Warframe | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch | Co-op looter-shooter | Full crossplay + cross-progression | Free; optional paid content |
| Destiny 2 | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox | Looter-shooter squads | Full crossplay | Free base; paid expansions |
| Roblox | PC, Xbox, mobile | Creative party nights | Full crossplay | Free; in-game currency optional |
| Brawlhalla | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch, mobile | Casual platform fighting | Full crossplay | Free; cosmetic DLC optional |
| SMITE | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch | MOBA-style team battles | Full crossplay | Free; cosmetic microtransactions |
| Paladins | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch | Hero shooter squads | Full crossplay | Free; cosmetic microtransactions |
| Dauntless | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch | Co-op monster hunting | Full crossplay + cross-progression | Free; cosmetic microtransactions |
| Teeworlds | PC (Windows, Mac, Linux) | Lightweight 2D shooter | Full crossplay (community servers) | Completely free, open-source |
| Call of Duty: Warzone | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox | Large-scale battle royale | Full crossplay | Free; battle pass optional |
A few notes on session length and party size:- Brawlhalla and Roblox are the fastest to pick up for groups with non-gamers or younger players
- Teeworlds is the lightest download of the lot, runs on almost any PC, and costs nothing at all.
How does crossplay actually work for each of these games?
Getting crossplay running is rarely one-click. Each title has its own account requirements, invite flow, and occasional quirks. Here is what your group needs to know for each one.
Fortnite
Platforms: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, Nintendo Switch, mobile (Android). Cross-progression is fully supported via your Epic Games account.1. Create or log in to your Epic Games account.
2. Link your PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo account inside the Epic Games account settings.
3. Launch Fortnite and add friends using their Epic display name (not their PSN or Xbox Gamertag).
4. Send a party invite from the lobby; friends on any linked platform will receive it.
5. For voice chat, use Discord or the in-game voice option.
Pro Tip: Switch players share the same lobby as PC and console players by default. If your Switch friend is struggling, switch to a no-build mode, which levels the playing field considerably.Apex Legends
Platforms: PC (Steam/EA App), PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series. No Switch or mobile version currently. Cross-progression launched in 2023, meaning your rank and cosmetics follow you across platforms.1. Create an EA account (free) and link it to your console or Steam profile.
2. In-game, go to the Friends tab and search by EA username.
3. Invite friends to your party before queuing.
4. Note: crossplay is on by default but can be disabled in settings if you prefer platform-only matchmaking.
Pro Tip: PC players using keyboard and mouse are placed in PC-priority lobbies when crossplay is active. If your console friends are finding matches harder, check whether input-based matchmaking is enabled in the settings.Rocket League
Platforms: PC (Epic Games Store), PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, Nintendo Switch. Full crossplay and cross-progression via Epic Games account.1. Download Rocket League free from the Epic Games Store (PC) or your console store.
2. Link your console account to an Epic Games account.
3. Add friends via their Epic username in the Friends menu.
4. Create a party and queue for any mode together.
Pro Tip: Rocket League's Casual playlist is the friendliest entry point for groups. Ranked mode has stricter skill-based matchmaking that can split groups of mixed ability.Warframe
Platforms: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, Nintendo Switch. Full crossplay and cross-progression are supported via a linked Warframe account.1. Create a free Warframe account at warframe.com.
2. Link your console or PC platform to that account.
3. In-game, add friends via their Warframe username.
4. Use the Recruiting channel or invite directly from your Friends list.
Pro Tip: Warframe's cross-progression means your entire inventory transfers when you switch platforms. Link your account before your first session so nothing is left behind.Destiny 2
Platforms: PC (Steam), PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series. Full crossplay via Bungie account. Cross-save is supported but requires manual activation at bungie.net.1. Create a Bungie account and link all your platforms.
2. Activate Cross Save at bungie.net/CrossSave if you want progress to follow you.
3. Add friends using their Bungie Name (e.g. Guardian#1234).
4. Invite from the Roster tab in-game.
Pro Tip: Destiny 2's free base game (the New Light edition) gives you access to a solid chunk of content, but some expansions are paid. Confirm your group is on the same content tier before planning a raid.Roblox
Platforms: PC, Xbox, mobile (iOS and Android). No PlayStation or Switch version. Cross-progression is tied to your Roblox account.1. Create a free Roblox account.
2. Log in on any supported device.
3. Add friends by username and join their current game session directly.
Pro Tip: Roblox's individual games vary wildly in quality. For a reliable group night, stick to consistently popular titles within Roblox such as Adopt Me!, Brookhaven, or Arsenal, which have stable crossplay lobbies.Brawlhalla
Platforms: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, Nintendo Switch, mobile (iOS and Android). Full crossplay across all five platforms, with up to eight players in a single match.1. Download Brawlhalla free from your platform's store
2. Add friends via their Brawlhalla username or platform friend list
Pro Tip: Brawlhalla's Custom Room feature is the fastest way to get all eight players into the same lobby. Set it to "Friends Only" to avoid random players joining mid-session.SMITE, Paladins, and Dauntless
All three are published by Hi-Rez Studios (SMITE and Paladins) and Phoenix Labs (Dauntless). Each requires a free publisher account.
- SMITE: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch. Add friends via Hi-Rez account username. Full crossplay; cross-progression is supported.
- Paladins: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch. Same Hi-Rez account system as SMITE; your cosmetics carry across platforms.
- Dauntless: PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox, Switch. Link a Dauntless account at playdauntless.com; full cross-progression included.
Teeworlds
Platforms: PC only (Windows, Mac, Linux). No console version. Completely free and open-source, with community-run servers.1. Download from teeworlds.com or via Steam (free).
2. No account required; pick a username and join any server.
3. Share the server address with friends for a private session.
Pro Tip: Teeworlds is ideal for groups on older or low-spec PCs. It runs on almost any hardware and the community servers are usually lag-free for UK players. *How does crossplay work in practice: accounts, matchmaking, and networks
Understanding the difference between crossplay, cross-progression, and cross-save saves your group a lot of confusion on the night.
Crossplay means players on different platforms can join the same match. Cross-progression means your account level, unlocks, and currency carry across platforms. Cross-save is a subset of cross-progression that specifically saves your character or story progress. A game can offer crossplay without cross-progression, so your inventory on PlayStation may be completely separate from your PC account even if you can play together.Many crossplay-enabled titles require a unified developer account to access friends lists and cross-platform parties. Epic Games, EA, Bungie, and Hi-Rez all use this model. Linking accounts before your first session saves a disproportionate amount of time.
Common account types your group will need:- Epic Games account — Fortnite, Rocket League
- EA account — Apex Legends
- Bungie account — Destiny 2
- Warframe account — Warframe
- Hi-Rez account — SMITE, Paladins
- Dauntless account — Dauntless
- Roblox account — Roblox
1. Create the publisher account on the game's official website using your email address.
2. On your console, go to Settings and find the Linked Accounts or Connected Accounts section.
3. Select the relevant publisher and follow the on-screen authorisation steps.
4. Launch the game; it should detect the linked account automatically.
5. Confirm in the game's social or friends menu that your cross-platform friends list is visible.
Warnings to keep in mind:- Live-service games can experience temporary crossplay interruptions during major patches if platforms update at different times. If a friend cannot join your lobby after a big update, check whether their platform has received the same patch version.
- Input-based matchmaking separates keyboard/mouse players from controller players in competitive modes. This protects balance but can mean your group ends up in different lobbies if you are on mixed inputs.
- Mismatched store editions can block party joining. If one player has a console-exclusive DLC edition and another has the base game, certain content may be hidden or inaccessible.
- NAT type affects your ability to host or join crossplay lobbies. A NAT Type 2 (moderate) on PlayStation or an Open NAT on Xbox is the target. If someone cannot connect, ask them to check their router's UPnP settings.
How to choose which free crossplay game suits your group
The right game depends on four things: how many people are playing, what platforms they are on, how long you have, and how patient everyone is with a learning curve. Work through these questions before you commit to a download.
1. How many players? — Brawlhalla supports multiple players in a single match. Fortnite and Warzone cap squads at four. Apex Legends is built around three. Warframe and Destiny 2 work best in groups of three or four.
2. How tolerant is your group of microtransactions? — Every title here is free to start, but battle passes and cosmetic shops vary. Teeworlds has none at all. Fortnite and Warzone have the most prominent monetisation.
Decision map by group type: Pro Tip: Pick one easy-onramp game and one deeper option for rotating nights. Brawlhalla as the warm-up and Warframe as the main event form a combination that works well for groups with mixed experience levels. If you want the group to vote on what to play rather than argue about it, Pickthe's game night picker lets everyone swipe through options and surfaces the game with the most votes in under two minutes.For more help matching your group's device mix to the right title, finding games everyone can play is a practical step-by-step guide worth bookmarking.
*Practical tips for a smooth crossplay game night
Most sessions that fall apart do so in the first 20 minutes, before anyone has even loaded into a match. A little preparation fixes almost all of it.
Pre-launch checklist:- Download and fully update the game on every device before the session starts. Patches on console can take 20–30 minutes and will hold the whole group up.
- Create and link all required publisher accounts in advance. Do this on a quick call the day before if possible.
- Check that everyone has the same store edition of the game. A player on the free base version cannot join content locked to a paid edition.
- Confirm minimum specs if anyone is on PC. Fortnite requires at least an Intel Core i3-3225 and 8 GB of RAM; Apex Legends needs an Intel Core i5-3570K and a GTX 970 or equivalent. Teeworlds runs on virtually anything.
- For console players, check NAT type in network settings. Open or Type 2 is fine; Strict or Type 3 will cause connection issues.
- Discord is the most reliable choice for groups spanning PC and console. The mobile app means even Switch players can join a voice channel. It is free and works alongside any game.
- In-game voice is convenient but quality varies by title and platform. Warframe and Destiny 2 have solid in-game voice; Roblox's is less consistent.
- Console party chat (PlayStation Party, Xbox Party) only works within the same platform ecosystem, so it is not suitable for crossplay groups.
- If someone is on a shared home network, ask them to connect via ethernet rather than Wi-Fi for the session. Latency spikes on Wi-Fi are the most common cause of lag complaints.
- Live-service patches can temporarily break crossplay lobbies if one platform updates before another. If you are planning a session around a major game update, give it 24 hours before expecting everything to work smoothly.
- Preferred server regions matter. Most titles default to the nearest server, but if your group spans the UK and mainland Europe, manually selecting a European server in the game settings can reduce ping for everyone.
Key takeaways
The fastest route to a crossplay session tonight is to pick Fortnite, Brawlhalla, or Apex Legends, link your publisher accounts in advance, and use Discord for voice chat across all platforms.
| Point | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Top three picks for tonight | Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Brawlhalla cover the widest platform combinations and are free to download. |
| Link accounts before you play | Epic, EA, and Bungie accounts must be linked to consoles before crossplay friends lists become visible. |
| Crossplay ≠ cross-progression | You can play together across platforms without your inventory or progress carrying over; check each title's support page. |
| Watch for patch windows | Major updates can temporarily break crossplay lobbies if platforms update at different times. |
| Pickthe for group decisions | Use Pickthe's crossplay checker or game voting app to confirm compatibility and let the group vote in under two minutes. |
*Why the best free crossplay games are only half the problem
The games on this list are genuinely good. Fortnite has been refined over years of live-service updates. Warframe is one of the most generous free-to-play titles ever made. Brawlhalla is a legitimate platform fighter with a competitive scene. But the honest observation, after watching groups try to organise crossplay sessions, is that the game itself is rarely where things go wrong.
What actually derails a session is the 20 minutes before it starts. Someone forgot to create their Epic account. Someone else is on a different patch version. Nobody can agree on a game because half the group wants Apex and the other half wants Rocket League, and the discussion goes in circles until someone gives up. The coordination layer is where sessions live or die, and most games do nothing to help with it.
The other thing worth saying plainly: crossplay and cross-progression are not the same thing, and conflating them leads to real frustration. You can spend 40 hours building a Warframe loadout on PlayStation, switch to PC for a session with a friend, and find your inventory is empty unless you linked your account and activated cross-save before you started. That is not a bug. It is how the system works, and the publisher documentation is not always clear about it. Checking the specifics for each title before your first session is not overcautious; it is the difference between a smooth night and a wasted one.
One more thing: the free-to-play model on most of these titles is genuinely fair for groups who just want to play together. You do not need to spend anything to access crossplay, invite friends, or enjoy the core game modes. The battle passes and cosmetic shops are there, but they are optional. Teeworlds is the extreme end of this, with no monetisation at all, but even Fortnite and Warzone give you a complete experience without spending a penny.
*How Pickthe helps your group pick and start playing faster
Picking a game your whole group can actually play together is harder than it sounds, especially when everyone is on different platforms. Pickthe solves that specific problem: instead of a group chat that goes nowhere, everyone swipes through games in a shared board, votes in real time, and the result surfaces in under two minutes.
The crossplay compatibility checker confirms which titles connect your group's exact mix of platforms before anyone starts downloading. The game voting app handles the "what should we play?" conversation with a swiping mechanic that gives everyone equal input. There is also a Discord bot so the whole process runs inside your existing server, and a Streamer Mode for groups who broadcast their sessions. Over 6,000 games are in the database, updated continuously, so the compatibility data stays current even as new titles add crossplay support.
No paywalls, no lengthy setup. Start a vote, check your platforms, and get into a game tonight at pickthe.games.
*Useful sources for crossplay and platform availability
These are the official and authoritative pages worth bookmarking for the definitive crossplay instructions, account-linking steps, and live platform status for each title. Publisher support pages are the most reliable source for platform-specific caveats and live-service outage notices.
- Brawlhalla official site — confirms full crossplay across all five platforms and up to eight players per match.
- Teeworlds on Steam — confirms cross-platform multiplayer support and free-to-play status.
- Teeworlds official site — direct download and community server information for the open-source version.
- Pickthe crossplay games list — Pickthe's curated list of the best crossplay-capable titles, with live compatibility data across platforms.
Always check the publisher's official support page for the most current platform-specific caveats, especially after a major update or new season launch.