The quick answer
Choose multiplayer by activity: private co-op for supported shared content, Online Mode for the broader multiplayer world, and the activity’s own matchmaking for group challenges. Do not assume the entire main story advances for every party member. Check eligibility and reward rules before starting together.
On this page
Use three different menus for three different jobs
| Menu or entry | What you are choosing |
|---|---|
| Mode Switch | The kind of world/session you want to enter. |
| Social | The people you want to find or invite. |
| Activity entry, including Wandering Paths challenges | The actual group challenge, queue and reward rules. |
Opening Social and finding a friend does not select a compatible activity. Start with what you want to do together, choose its supported session type and then organise the players.
For a new group, begin with one short supported objective. This lets everyone confirm invitations, controls and progress before committing to a long session.
Choose the right kind of session
| Goal | Where to start | What to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Play supported content with friends | Solo/Co-op session options | The selected quest or activity permits co-op. |
| Join the shared multiplayer world | Online Mode | You are in the intended mode and instance. |
| Run a group challenge | The challenge’s activity entry | Party size, level or Mastery requirements and reward rules. |
| Fight other players | The relevant Arena or competitive entry | Mode rules, queue and regional matchmaking options. |
Prepare the party before travelling
- Agree on the exact activity and who will lead.
- Confirm every player has its prerequisites.
- Create or enter the appropriate session and invite the intended players.
- Check the selected difficulty and activity rules.
- Begin one supported objective and verify the result before committing to a longer run.
Party limits are activity-specific. A general co-op description is not a safe way to infer the size of a raid or competitive team. Use the capacity shown by the activity you are actually entering.
Understand what is shared
Supported Campaign Challenges can use shared progression, but that does not make the complete main-story campaign a shared save. Personal story triggers and activity reward eligibility need to be checked separately.
After the first objective, each player should inspect their own Quest progress and rewards. If someone has no credit, compare the prerequisite, selected mode and completion step before replaying the whole sequence. Being present in the same world is not sufficient evidence that every personal objective advanced.
For exploration, the January update explicitly enabled supported chests, Oddities and some puzzles in Online Mode, with rewards and completion synced to Solo Mode. That is a concrete exception to a blanket “nothing carries over” rule. It still does not turn every personal story step into a shared campaign.
Cross-play and account progress are different checks
The official Xbox FAQ confirms cross-play and shared character data across Xbox, PC, PlayStation and mobile through the same bound account. It also says that an existing account should be bound before creating a new Xbox character; creating that character first can prevent linking to the existing account.
The FAQ limits character-data sharing to the same server region. Separately, the later developer AMA describes cross-region PvP parties using the leader’s chosen matchmaking server. These rules concern different things: moving character progress and selecting a battle server should not be confused.
When joining or progressing fails
Start with the smallest observable issue. If an invitation fails, check the selected mode, party capacity and whether either player is in a restricted activity. If the group enters but progression differs, check each character’s requirements and the activity’s sharing rules.
For poor combat responsiveness, compare the chosen battle server and the players’ connection conditions. Do not immediately rebuild your character to solve what may be a session or latency issue. Once the session works, keep a short note of the successful setup for the next group run.
Practical guides
Walk through one group activity from invitation to reward
- Each player opens the same activity and checks personal entry requirements.
- Agree on the mode, difficulty and party leader.
- Use the available invitation or matchmaking option for that activity.
- Confirm the expected players are present before starting.
- Complete the activity and its closing interaction.
- Each player checks their own completion and reward eligibility.
- Decide whether to repeat only after checking remaining claim costs or allowances.
A leader being able to enter does not establish that every guest meets every reward requirement. Similarly, seeing a reward preview does not establish that you have enough Energy to claim it repeatedly.
Identify where the group session failed
| What happened | Investigate |
|---|---|
| Friend cannot be found or invited | The account/player identifier, selected mode and restricted activity state. |
| Invitation accepted but you are apart | The intended world, instance and activity transition. |
| Party formed but Start is unavailable | Every member’s prerequisite and the activity’s capacity. |
| Activity completed but a quest did not advance | That personal quest’s sharing rules and final objective. |
| Completion counted but loot cannot be claimed | Personal reward eligibility, cost and remaining allowance. |
Work on the first failing step. Farming better equipment is unlikely to repair an invitation problem, and leaving and rejoining repeatedly will not necessarily complete a missing personal story prerequisite.
A worked example: a chest counted but a conversation did not
Suppose two players collect a supported shared chest and both see the result, then one player’s nearby story conversation fails to advance. Treat those as separate features. Inspect the story objective for each player and whether that section supports their session type.
If the conversation needs personal progression, complete that step in the appropriate mode and regroup afterward. Keep the agreed group activity separate from each player’s individual checklist so nobody waits through repeated attempts at an unsupported step.
What to read next
Common questions
Can we play the entire main story as one shared campaign?
Do not plan on that. Co-op support and shared rewards are activity-specific; main-story progress includes personal sections. Choose explicitly supported content and verify each player’s progress.
Why did a chest count but my friend’s story quest did not?
Collectible sync and story completion use different rules. Check the quest’s own co-op eligibility and your personal prerequisites. A collected chest proving that world progress synced does not prove the nearby story conversation can be completed as a guest.
Sources & verification
Source research is separate from in-game testing. Recommendations are identified as editorial advice.
- Official: Xbox cross-play and account FAQ
- Official: July developer AMA
- Official: January exploration and Arena practice changes
Online Mode collectibles and supported puzzle progress sync.