10 Best Crossplay Games on Xbox Game Pass (September 2026)

Looking for the best Xbox Game Pass crossplay games in 2026? Games with crossplay support make it easy to team up with friends no matter what system they’re using. You can squad up, compete, or explore together without limits. Game Pass keeps adding new titles that bring everyone into one shared world. It’s all about easy access, shared fun, and non-stop action with friends.

What Defines the Best Crossplay Games?

It all comes down to connection, not just between platforms, but between players. Whether it’s racing, surviving, fighting, or causing chaos in co-op, the best crossplay games bring people together without the hassle. Fast matchmaking, stable servers, and solid multiplayer design are what make them work. When a game lets you squad up across systems and just jump into the action, that’s where the fun really clicks. Every pick in this list delivers both good gameplay and good times with friends.

From wild co-op disasters to full-scale shared adventures, this lineup covers the Xbox Game Pass crossplay games worth loading up with friends in 2026. Here are the picks that bring strong multiplayer action, smooth cross-platform play, and plenty of reasons to keep coming back.

10. Riders Republic

Race bikes, skis, and wingsuits across massive multiplayer events

Riders Republic is the spiritual successor to Steep, which was an extreme sports game focused on skiing, snowboarding, wingsuit flying, and paragliding from the same studio. However, where Steep focused on mountain sports, Riders Republic went all-in on variety, so you’ve got mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, wingsuit flying, and even skateboarding through an add-on, all crammed into one open world. And I mean a properly large open world, where dozens of players are just roaming around doing their own thing while you do yours. You’ll see other riders carving down a slope or launching off a cliff, and you can jump into events or just cruise around exploring.

Speaking of multiplayer, the big draw is the chaotic Mass Race events, where a huge crowd of riders all launch from the same starting line and barrel downhill together. The course actually switches sports mid-race, so you might be pedaling on a bike one moment and then switching to a snowboard as the course reaches the snow. I’d compare the vibe to a triathlon, except everyone is crashing into each other, wiping out on cliffs, and somehow still trying to reach the finish line first. Even outside of those races, there’s career stuff, trick competitions, and just aimless exploration if you’re in the mood for it.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

9. Ultimate Sheep Raccoon

Build obstacle courses on bikes, then race through them with friends

If you’ve ever played Ultimate Chicken Horse, you already know the vibe. Ultimate Sheep Raccoon is the spiritual successor from the same developer, and it pushes everything further than the original did. The first game had you placing platforms and traps on foot, however, the racing in Ultimate Sheep Raccoon happens on bicycles, which changes the physics and speed in a big way. You’re still building the course together before each round, placing ramps, spikes, pendulums, and all kinds of hazards, and the bike momentum lets you do backflips and wheelies for extra points while dodging the very obstacles you placed.

Player count jumped from 4 to 8 as well. With 8 people all placing their own traps and then trying to survive the course they collectively built, rounds spiral into hilarious disasters fast. Plus, there’s a level editor so you can build custom tracks and share them across platforms. In short, Ultimate Sheep Raccoon is the sort of party game where you’ll hear people screaming at their screens regardless of their skill level. And the cross-platform lobby code system makes it effortless to get a group going.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1, Nintendo Switch 2

8. Dead by Daylight

Four survivors try to escape while one player hunts them all down

Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer cat-and-mouse chase, one person takes on the killer role while four others try to survive and get out. The two sides play completely differently from each other, so switching roles between matches almost makes it seem like two separate games in one. On the survivor side, there’s constant coordination, sneaking around, helping teammates who got caught, all while someone is actively stalking you. On the killer side, however, the perspective flips entirely because you’re the one creating pressure, tracking people down, cutting off escape routes.

Speaking of the killer roster, Dead by Daylight has pulled characters from some of the most iconic horror franchises ever made, so horror fans in particular will recognize a lot of familiar faces on the selection screen. Yet the original characters are equally creative. Also, these are not just cosmetic skins since each one brings a wildly different playstyle to the table. The community around Dead by Daylight is massive, and it tilts hard into strategy once you dig deeper, almost comparable to competitive titles where loadout decisions before a match matter just as much as in-match performance. For anyone exploring the best crossplay Game Pass games in 2026, Dead by Daylight remains a go-to pick because no two matches ever unfold the same way.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch

7. Brawlhalla

Free platform fighter with 68+ characters and crossplay everywhere

Brawlhalla costs you absolutely nothing to download, and it runs on basically everything. PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iOS, Android. Full crossplay across all of them. I’d argue this is the easiest multiplayer game on this list to get your friends into, because the barrier to entry is quite literally zero. You pick a Legend from a roster of 70 characters, jump onto floating platforms, grab weapons that spawn mid-fight, and try to knock your opponents off the stage by racking up damage. If you’ve played Super Smash Bros., the rhythm will click right away, but Brawlhalla carves out its own lane with weapon-based combat and an ever-growing collection of crossover characters.

Casual players can absolutely button-mash through free-for-all lobbies with four people, or set up custom matches with up to eight, and have a good time at lower levels. But there’s a ranked scene underneath all of that, with 1v1 and 2v2 queues, seasonal rankings, and a competitive community that’s been grinding since 2017. Also, the game rotates a free Legend lineup regularly, so you can try before you commit to unlocking anyone. Talking about numbers, over 125 million players have jumped in globally, and Ubisoft has been consistent with frequent content drops. I’d say among the best crossplay games on Xbox, Brawlhalla is the lowest-commitment, highest-return pick on this entire list.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

6. Moving Out 2

Cooperate with friends to haul furniture through absurd obstacle-filled levels

Moving Out 2 is a co-op game about being a mover. You and up to three friends work as “Furniture Arrangement & Relocation Technicians” (yes, the abbreviation is exactly what you think it is), and your job is to clear out houses, offices, and bizarre locations by physically grabbing furniture and tossing it into a moving truck. Well, the physics are intentionally goofy, so couches bounce off walls, tables get stuck in doorways, and someone always ends up accidentally throwing a lamp into the ocean. On paper, the task is straightforward until you’re yelling at your friend for dropping the fridge off a balcony.

The first Moving Out had local co-op but no built-in online multiplayer, so playing remotely required a workaround like Steam Remote Play Together. Now, this sequel opened everything up, so friends on different platforms can join your crew. There are over 50 levels, and they range from regular suburban houses to interdimensional portals leading to completely bizarre environments with hazards like teleporters, one-way doors, and disappearing floors. But worth mentioning here, communication is the backbone of this entire experience, and watching a carefully coordinated plan fall apart because someone grabbed the wrong end of a fridge is peak comedy with a group of friends. So grab some snacks, hop in a call, and prepare to argue about who dropped the refrigerator in the pool.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch

5. Deep Rock Galactic

Space dwarves mine alien caves while bugs try to eat them

Deep Rock Galactic has possibly the friendliest online community in all of gaming, which is wild considering you spend most of your time screaming “Rock and Stone” while alien bugs swarm from every direction. You play as a dwarf employed by a greedy mining corporation, heading deep underground on an alien planet to collect minerals, and the caves you explore are procedurally generated, so no two sessions look quite the same. Plus, between missions, your dwarves hang out at a space station bar where you can order beers, dance to the jukebox, or mess with the gravity just to fool around.

Speaking of how co-op works, each player picks from four dwarf classes that all complement each other during missions, so splitting up tasks across the squad feels natural rather than forced. One dwarf lights up pitch-dark caverns, another deploys platforms on walls, someone drills shortcuts through rock, while the last brings heavy weaponry along. And because the caves are fully destructible too, your crew reshapes the terrain to reach resources or create escape routes on the fly. So far Deep Rock Galactic has sold over 11 million copies, and it continues to draw thousands of concurrent players years after launch.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC

4. Sea of Thieves

Crew a pirate ship where every voyage writes its own story

Sea of Thieves is a pirate sandbox where you, along with a crew of friends, sail the open ocean looking for treasure, fighting rival crews, and stumbling into situations nobody could have scripted. I think the key thing to understand here is how the game treats player equality, since it handles competition in a way most multiplayer games avoid entirely. There are no permanent stat upgrades, no weapon tiers, and no gear upgrades that make your pirate stronger just because you’ve played longer. A pirate who launched the game for the first time today starts with the same basic combat capabilities as someone who has been sailing for years. Cosmetics are the main lasting customization unlocks you earn over time. Given that, encounters on the water come down largely to skill, creativity, preparation, and a little bit of luck.

And therein lies how voyages can be so wildly unpredictable, since even without permanent combat upgrades, the outcome of a fight is always up in the air. At its core, Sea of Thieves runs on emergent moments. Players have figured out they can grab explosive barrels, swim over to an enemy ship, sneak aboard, hide the barrel below deck, and blow the crew up from the inside. Others have weaponized the Chest of Sorrow, a cursed treasure chest that periodically fills a ship’s hull with water, by planting it on rival ships. Sea of Thieves is a strong pick if you’re looking for the best Game Pass crossplay games in 2026, especially since the shared-world design ensures you can encounter other crews to ally with or fight against.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5

3. Shift At Midnight

Run a gas station at night and spot the monsters

Shift At Midnight blew up online within days of its launch. Here’s a lil context if you’ve been living under a rock. You work a night shift at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, managing everyday tasks like stocking shelves, accepting deliveries, and cleaning the store. Boring on paper, right? Well, here’s the catch: some of the customers walking through that door are doppelgangers disguised as regular people. Your job is to interrogate each customer, check their ID, look for inconsistencies in their behavior, and decide whether they’re human or something wearing a human face. If you let a doppelganger slip through, it will come back later during your shift as a horrifying creature trying to kill you and your friends. And if you wrongly kill a human? You’ve made a very costly mistake.

Playing this solo is creepy enough, but Shift At Midnight with friends is a completely different experience. The chaos really escalates when you mess up and have to deal with the consequences. You’ll board up doors, lay down traps, and find somewhere to hide while monsters roam the store looking for you. Shifts are randomly generated too, so you’ll face different customer lineups and potentially different doppelgangers each time. Definitely grab a friend or two for this one, since screaming at each other over a suspicious customer who won’t make eye contact is an experience I’d recommend to anyone.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Game Pass)

2. Forza Horizon 6

Race over 550 cars across an open-world Japan map

Forza Horizon 6 brings the racing festival to Japan, and honestly, I don’t think there’s been a more requested location in the franchise’s history. Fans wanted this for years, and Playground Games delivered something massive. The map covers everything from dense downtown city streets to winding mountain passes, rural countryside roads, coastal stretches, and industrial docks, all connected by an open world you can seamlessly drive across. You’ve got over 550 licensed cars to collect, ranging from Japanese tuner legends to exotic European supercars, and the driving sits comfortably between arcade accessibility and simulation depth.

You start as a tourist visiting Japan and work your way into the Horizon Festival, unlocking bigger, more elaborate racing events as you go. And for anyone into car culture specifically, the game leans heavily into Japanese automotive heritage, featuring stories tied to the country’s car scene, mountain pass races, and drift-focused activities. The new Horizon CoLab mode also lets up to 12 players build custom tracks and events together in the open world, which is a first for the series. I’ve personally spent hours just free-roaming alongside friends. If you’re into competitive online races or you’d rather cruise around photographing cars at sunset, this is one you can lose a full weekend to.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

1. Subnautica 2

Explore an alien ocean with friends in co-op survival

The original Subnautica asked players to survive alone on an alien ocean planet, and the community loved it so much that modders built an unofficial co-op mode just so they could share the experience with friends. Unknown Worlds clearly paid attention, because Subnautica 2 launched into Early Access with native four-player online co-op baked in from day one. And this single addition transforms the entire formula. The game is built on Unreal Engine 5, and believe me, the underwater environments look stunning, with bioluminescent creatures lighting up the deep, massive coral formations spanning across biomes, and natural ocean currents that can push you off course when you least expect it.

You can still play the available content solo, and it works beautifully as a single-player experience. But diving hundreds of meters deep with a friend and hearing an unknown roar echo through the darkness? It is equally terrifying with company. There’s no tether mechanic restricting how far apart you can be, so one person can be building an underwater habitat near the surface while another ventures into deep caves on the other side of the map. Additionally, the base-building has been overhauled massively compared to the original, and scanning alien creatures, exploring wrecks, and investigating ancient structures help you unlock new abilities, equipment, and story breadcrumbs. And deeper zones require better gear, stronger nerves, and careful oxygen management, because massive leviathan-class creatures lurk in dangerous waters.

Crossplay Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

FAQs

Do all these games need Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for crossplay to work?

It depends on the game. Titles like Brawlhalla are free-to-play, so you can download and use crossplay without any subscription at all. But for premium games like Forza Horizon 6, Subnautica 2, and Shift At Midnight, you’ll need an active Game Pass subscription to access them through the service. And if you’re on console specifically, online multiplayer typically requires at least Game Pass Essential or Ultimate.

Can I invite a friend on PlayStation to play these Game Pass games with me?

Some of these games do support PlayStation crossplay, but others are limited to Xbox and PC. Sea of Thieves, Dead by Daylight, Brawlhalla, and Riders Republic all allow you to match with PlayStation players. However, Deep Rock Galactic, Subnautica 2, Shift At Midnight, and Forza Horizon 6 currently restrict crossplay to the Xbox and PC ecosystem. So before you send that invite, it’s worth checking whether your friend’s platform is supported for the specific title.

Which of these games are good for someone who doesn’t play games often?

Moving Out 2 is probably the easiest pick here because the concept is straightforward, you’re just moving furniture from a house to a truck. It also has assist options that let you adjust the speed and difficulty, which makes it comfortable for casual players. Ultimate Sheep Raccoon is another solid option since the bike-racing format is simple to grasp, and the chaos of the obstacle courses makes skill gaps feel less noticeable. Riders Republic is also approachable because the open-world structure lets you do activities at your own pace.

How many players can join together in the largest multiplayer game on this list?

Riders Republic supports massive races with up to 64 players in a single event, which makes it the biggest multiplayer experience here by a wide margin. Ultimate Sheep Raccoon caps at 8 players, and Sea of Thieves allows crews of up to 4 on a single ship. Most other games on this list support groups of 3 to 4 players in co-op. So if you’re after large-scale multiplayer mayhem, Riders Republic is the clear pick.

Do any of these Game Pass crossplay games also support local couch co-op?

Yes, a few of them do. Moving Out 2 supports up to 4 players on the same screen alongside its online crossplay mode, and you can even split a single controller between two players if you’re short on gamepads. Ultimate Sheep Raccoon also has local multiplayer for up to 8 players on one device in addition to its online crossplay. Brawlhalla allows local matches too, so you and a friend on the same couch can team up or fight each other before jumping online.

Are any of these crossplay games completely free to play even without Game Pass?

Brawlhalla is entirely free on every platform, so you don’t need Game Pass or any purchase to play it. The roster rotates free characters weekly, and all gameplay content is accessible without spending a thing. Dead by Daylight is available through Game Pass, but if your subscription lapses, you’d need to buy it separately. Everything else on this list requires either a Game Pass subscription or a standalone purchase to access.

Which game on this list is the newest addition to Game Pass in 2026?

Shift At Midnight joined Game Pass as a day-one title in July 2026, and Subnautica 2 arrived on the service in May 2026. Forza Horizon 6 also launched on Game Pass in May 2026 with day-one access for Ultimate and PC subscribers. These three are the freshest entries on the list, and all of them landed on the service within the same year. So if you want the most current experiences, these are the ones to try first.

Can I play these games solo if none of my friends are online?

Absolutely. Almost every game on this list has a solo option. Subnautica 2 can be completed entirely alone, and Deep Rock Galactic pairs you with an AI companion called Bosco when you play without a group. Sea of Thieves has a Safer Seas mode designed for solo players, and Forza Horizon 6 lets you race through the full campaign by yourself. Even Dead by Daylight has a bot mode for practice. The crossplay component enhances all of these, but none of them force you to play with others.

Do these crossplay Game Pass games receive regular content updates?

Most of them do. Forza Horizon 6 has an active post-launch roadmap with seasonal content, new cars, and upcoming expansions. Sea of Thieves continues to roll out seasonal updates with new events and voyages. Dead by Daylight releases new characters and themed events frequently as well. Subnautica 2 is currently in early access, so new features, creatures, and biomes are being added through patches over time. And Brawlhalla consistently introduces new crossover character packs throughout the year.