Is Sea of Thieves cross-platform? PS5, Xbox & PC crossplay status

After being exclusive to Xbox and PC for several years, the adventurous sandbox game Sea of Thieves has now made its way to the PS5.

Each time you access Sea of Thieves, a new ship and some supplies are provided for you and your crew to embark on your own adventures. The game is especially enjoyable when played with companions, so with its upcoming release on PlayStation 5 on April 30, will players on this platform be able to join their friends on Xbox and PC?

Does Sea of Thieves support crossplay?
How to use crossplay
How to invite friends
How to turn off crossplay
Is cross-progression available in Sea of Thieves?

Is Sea of Thieves cross-platform?

Sea of Thieves is cross-platform compatible across PS5, Xbox, and PC. This means that regardless of your platform or launcher, whether it be the Windows app or Steam, you can still play with your friends on any other platform.

Using Crossplay in Sea of Thieves

By default, crossplay will be enabled in Sea of Thieves for those playing on Xbox or using the Windows app. However, if you’re playing on Steam or PS5, you’ll be required to have an Xbox account in order to use crossplay.

Upon logging into Xbox, you have the ability to join other Xbox and PC players on their accounts to play Sea of Thieves, regardless of your chosen platform. I typically utilize the party chat feature on the Microsoft app to communicate with my Xbox friends while playing, although the in-game voice chat also functions effectively.

Inviting Friends in Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves invite friends screen — Rare

To play with friends in Sea of Thieves, you must ensure that you are Xbox friends with them and then invite each other before embarking on your journey.

To invite friends in Sea of Thieves, follow these steps:

Ensure you and your friends create Xbox accounts if you haven’t already.
Make sure your Xbox accounts are friends with each other.
Launch Sea of Thieves and head to the ‘Play’ tab.
Choose between ‘Adventure’ or ‘The Legend of Monkey Island’ based on your desired game.
Select ‘High Seas’ or ‘Safer Seas.’
Hit ‘Charter a Ship’ and select your ship based on your party size.
Choose an open or closed crew.
Press ‘Confirm and Assemble a Crew.’
Press X/1 to open up your Xbox friends list.
Click on the friend you want to invite and press ‘Confirm.’

Disabling Crossplay in Sea of Thieves

In order to turn off crossplay in Sea of Thieves, players must be on console. Here’s how:

Press Y to access settings.
Navigate to the Matchmaking Preferences section by scrolling down.
Switch the ‘Prefer Xbox Players with Controllers’ setting to ‘Yes.’
Once confirmed, you’ll see a message telling you you’re sailing the seas with players on Xbox and controllers only when loading in.

It should be noted that PC players do not have the option to adjust their matchmaking preferences and will therefore have to play with console players through crossplay. It is not yet clear if this feature will also be available on PlayStation and what its functionality will be.

Is cross-progression available in Sea of Thieves?

Sea of Thieves offers cross-progression, meaning your progress will transfer regardless of the device you use to play. As long as you use the same Xbox account, you can seamlessly continue your adventure.

To learn more about Sea of Thieves, you can also see how it differs from Skull and Bones, as well as how to obtain Twitch Drop rewards.