There’s nothing worse than having a perfect casual Rocket League match with a random player, only to realize they’re on a different console and you have no clue how to add them to queue again. I’ve been there too, back when crossplay first launched, and I wasted almost 20 minutes fumbling through settings trying to figure out how to connect with a PlayStation player I met while I was on PC. Knowing how to add friends on Rocket League cross platform removes that frustration entirely, and it opens up a massive pool of potential teammates, trade partners (for same-platform trades, anyway), and casual play pals. I’ve tested every cross platform combination across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch over the last 4 years of playing, so this guide works no matter what device you or your friends use.
How to Add Friends on Rocket League Cross Platform: Step-by-Step for All Consoles
First off, you need to make sure crossplay is enabled on your account, because that’s the base requirement for any cross platform friend adds. Most accounts have this turned on by default, but if you turned it off accidentally earlier to avoid PC mouse and keyboard lobbies, you can toggle it in the settings under the Gameplay tab. The core process works the same across every device, because Rocket League ties all friend connections to your Epic Games ID, even if you’re playing on console and never made an Epic account manually. This process works for every combination of devices, so you don’t need separate steps for connecting Xbox and Switch, or PC and PlayStation users. Follow these simple steps to send a request in under a minute:
- Open Rocket League and navigate to the Friends tab on the main menu, located on the right side of the screen.
- Select Add Friend by Epic ID from the top of the friends menu, even if your friend is playing on PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch.
- Type in your friend’s exact Epic Games display name, including any unique numbers attached to the end of their username, then send the friend request.
- Have your friend accept the request from their own Friends tab, and they’ll appear in your cross platform friends list immediately.
If you don’t know your friend’s Epic ID, you can ask them to check it in their account settings on the Epic Games launcher, or from the Rocket League profile screen by selecting their username on the main menu. For console players who never made an Epic account, Rocket League automatically creates one for you when you first launch the game after the free-to-play update, so you can find your auto-generated ID in your in-game profile too. You don’t need to download the Epic Games launcher on your console to use this feature, it’s all built into the game itself, so you don’t have to do any extra setup outside of the Rocket League menu.
Fixing Common Cross Platform Friend Request Errors
So you followed all the steps above, but your friend request isn’t going through, or you can’t see your friend online even after they accepted the request? I’ve run into this issue at least a dozen times when queuing with friends across Switch and PC, so I know exactly what fixes work most of the time. First, the most common error is typing in the wrong Epic ID. A lot of people don’t realize that the display name you see in game isn’t always the same as the Epic ID, especially if someone changed their username recently. Always double check that you’re using the exact ID, including capitalization and the 4-5 digit number suffix, if they have one.
Next, if you can see your friend on the list but can’t invite them to a party, make sure both of you have crossplay enabled in your settings. Some players turn off crossplay to avoid playing against PC mouse and keyboard users, and that blocks all cross platform friend invites automatically. Another common fix is restarting your game if the request doesn’t pop up. Rocket League’s friend system sometimes lags if you’ve been playing for multiple hours without a restart, and a quick reboot will pull all pending requests into your menu right away. If you’re playing on PlayStation, there’s an extra step: you have to enable crossplay in your PlayStation Network settings too, not just the in-game settings. Sony blocks cross platform connections by default for some younger accounts, so if you have a teen account, ask your account holder to adjust the privacy settings to allow cross play.
Cool Perks of Adding Cross Platform Friends on Rocket League
Once you get the hang of sending cross platform friend requests, you’ll wonder how you ever played the game without this feature. I’ve met some of my regular queue partners through random casual matches, and being able to add them no matter what console they use means I have a full party almost every time I log on. You can also earn extra XP and rewards when you play with friends, no matter what platform they’re on, since Rocket League’s 15% party XP boost applies to all cross platform groups. That extra XP adds up fast if you play for a few hours a week, and it helps you unlock rocket passes way faster than playing solo.
Another big perk is that you can join cross platform tournaments with friends from different devices, which you couldn’t do just a few years ago. Psyonix updated the tournament system a while back to allow full cross platform teams, so you can compete in paid or free tournaments for in-game credits, decals, and other rewards without worrying about device restrictions. It’s one of the biggest quality of life updates the game has ever released, and it makes learning how to add friends on Rocket League cross platform well worth the 30 seconds of effort. One thing to note: you can’t trade items with cross platform friends right now, as trading is only allowed between players on the same platform, but that’s the only major limitation. It’s a small downside compared to all the benefits of being able to play with anyone, anywhere.
Tips to Manage Your Cross Platform Friends List Effectively
Once you start adding a lot of cross platform friends, your friends list can get cluttered really fast, especially if you add every random player you have a good match with. I’ve got over 200 cross platform friends on my list, so I’ve picked up a few tricks to keep it organized over the years. First, you can tag friends into groups like “Ranked Teammates” or “Casual Queue Pals” right in the in-game friends menu, so you don’t have to scroll through hundreds of names to find the person you’re looking for. You can also adjust your privacy settings to only receive friend requests from people you’ve played with in the last match, if you don’t want random requests from strangers popping up all the time. That setting is located in the Social tab of the settings menu, and it cuts down on spam requests a lot.
Another tip: if you don’t play with someone anymore, you can remove them from your Rocket League friends list without unfriending them on your console’s native friends list, so you don’t have to worry about messing up your console’s friend groups. If you’re worried about missing requests, you can turn on push notifications for friend requests if you have the Rocket League side app, but that’s totally optional. You can also set your status to “appear offline” if you want to play solo without getting party invites, and that setting applies across all platforms too. If you add a lot of players from different consoles, you’ll never run out of people to play with, which is the whole point of the crossplay feature in the first place.
At the end of the day, learning how to add friends on Rocket League cross platform takes less than a minute once you know how the Epic ID system works, and it opens up a way bigger pool of players to queue with. You don’t have to stick to only playing with people who own the same console as you, and you can build a really fun group of players from all over the world. If you run into any issues that aren’t covered in this guide, you can always check the official Rocket League support page for platform-specific fixes, but 99% of the time, the steps we covered here will get you and your friends in a party together in no time. Next time you have a great match with a random player, don’t hesitate to send them a friend request, no matter what device they’re playing on.
