Part of the Tips & Tricks series:

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How to Play Multiplayer With Friends: Step-by-step session setup.

Yes, No Man's Sky supports crossplay across every platform it runs on. A PC player, a PS5 player, an Xbox player, and a Switch player can all fly in the same session together, no workarounds required.

Quick Answer

Yes, No Man's Sky is fully crossplay. PC (Steam, Microsoft Store, GOG), PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch all share the same multiplayer pool.
Crossplay is on by default. You can turn it off in the network settings if you would rather match only with your own platform.
VR players and flatscreen players share the same servers. There is no separate VR-only pool.
Up to 32 players can occupy the same instance on current platforms, but co-op parties for missions cap at 4.
Crossplay and cross-save are different features. Crossplay is playing together; cross-save is carrying one save between platforms.
There is no split-screen or local co-op. All multiplayer is online.

Overview

Hello Games rolled crossplay out during the Beyond and Prisms era of updates, and it has been standard ever since. Rather than isolating players by store or console, the game routes everyone into a shared network, then uses the Space Anomaly as the common meeting point. Add a friend once and their platform stops mattering.

Platform Support at a Glance

Platform	Crossplay	Notes
PC (Steam)	Yes	Largest player pool. Mods do not block crossplay, though heavily modded saves can behave oddly in shared sessions.
PC (Microsoft Store / Game Pass)	Yes	Plays with Steam, GOG, and console users.
PC (GOG)	Yes	Full crossplay despite being DRM-free.
PlayStation 5 / PS4	Yes	Requires PS Plus for online play.
Xbox Series X\|S / Xbox One	Yes	Requires Xbox Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold).
Nintendo Switch	Yes	Smaller instance sizes and reduced visual detail, but the same shared network.
PSVR2 / PC VR	Yes	VR and non-VR players share sessions freely.
Mac / iPad	Yes	Same network as every other platform.

Turning Crossplay On or Off

Crossplay is enabled by default, so most players never touch the setting. If you want to change it, open the Options menu, go to the Network section, and look for the crossplay toggle. Switching it off restricts matchmaking to players on your own platform, which shrinks your pool considerably. The only common reason to disable it is troubleshooting a connection problem.

Turning crossplay off does not disable multiplayer. Network privacy is a separate control, so you can stay online and visible while limiting who you match with.

How Many Players Can Play Together

Two different numbers matter here, and mixing them up causes most of the confusion:

Shared instance size: up to 32 players can be present in the same instance on current-generation platforms. This is the crowd you see gathered in the Space Anomaly. Older hardware and Switch support smaller numbers.
Co-op party size: 4 players. Missions taken from the Nexus, the mission board aboard the Space Anomaly, are built around a group of four. See the Nexus missions guide for how the mission board and its rewards work.

In practice, four is the number that shapes actual play. Thirty-two is a social ceiling, not a squad size.

Crossplay vs Cross-Save

These get used interchangeably, and they are not the same thing.

Crossplay means players on different platforms can play together in one session. It works automatically and requires no account setup.

Cross-save means one save file follows you between platforms, so you can leave off on PC and pick up on Switch. That requires linking your platform accounts through Hello Games Cloud, and the toggle defaults to off. The full setup process is in the cross-save and cross-platform guide.

You can use one without the other. Playing with a friend on another console needs nothing but the game. Moving your own progress between machines needs the account link.

Adding Friends Across Platforms

Platform friend lists work as normal for people on your own system. For cross-platform friends, the game uses its own friend code system tied to your Hello Games account:

Open the Options menu and find your friend code, a short alphanumeric string unique to your account.
Share it with the person you want to add.
Have them enter it in the same menu to send a request.
Accept the request, and they appear in your in-game friends list regardless of platform.

Once added, you can join their game directly or invite them into yours. Joining works best when both players are on foot or in space rather than mid-warp. The multiplayer setup guide walks through the session options in detail.

What Co-Op Actually Shares

Co-op in No Man's Sky is closer to a shared world than a shared save. What you do together sticks, but each player keeps their own file.

Shared while playing together:

Bases. Guests can build in a host's base if given permission, and the host keeps the results.
Missions. Nexus missions and most story objectives progress for everyone in the party.
Resources and terrain. Mining, terrain edits, and gathered materials are visible to the whole group in real time.
Combat and encounters. Sentinel waves, pirate raids, and creature attacks scale to and affect everyone present.
Discoveries. Planets and creatures you find while grouped up register for the players present.

Kept separate:

Your save file. Story progress, unlocks, and milestones live in your own save.
Inventory and units. Nothing transfers automatically. Items must be handed over deliberately.
Ships, multi-tools, and freighters. These stay yours.
Base ownership. A base built in a friend's session belongs to whoever owns the world, not to visitors.

The practical effect: helping a friend through a mission advances their story, not yours. Many groups run the same content twice so both players get credit.

FAQ

Is No Man's Sky crossplay?

Yes. Crossplay is supported across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, and it is enabled by default.

Can PS5 and Xbox play together?

Yes. PlayStation and Xbox players can join the same session, add each other via friend code, and complete co-op missions together.

Is there split-screen or local co-op?

No. No Man's Sky has no split-screen or local co-op mode. Every multiplayer feature runs online, so each player needs their own copy and their own system.

How many players can play together?

Up to 32 players can share an instance on current platforms, while mission parties are limited to 4. Switch and older consoles support smaller instances.

Do I need PS Plus or Xbox Live?

On console, yes. Online multiplayer requires PS Plus on PlayStation or Xbox Game Pass Core on Xbox. PC players need no subscription. Single-player is unaffected on every platform.

Key Takeaways

Crossplay is the default state, not a feature you enable, which is why most players never find the setting. If matchmaking feels empty, check whether it got switched off during troubleshooting.
Treat 32 as a lobby number and 4 as your real squad size. Mission content is designed around four, so a larger group splits rather than scales.
The friend code is the piece people miss. Platform friend lists only cover your own system, and cross-platform grouping runs entirely through the in-game code.
Co-op shares the world, not the save. Play a mission for a friend and it advances their file alone, so plan on running content twice if both of you need the credit.
Console players carry a subscription cost that PC players do not. Budget for PS Plus or Game Pass Core before planning a regular co-op night, and check the VR guide or the expeditions hub if you want shared activities with a built-in structure.

Is No Man's Sky Crossplay? Co-Op & Multiplayer Explained