Fallout 76 is Bethesda's first proper take on multiplayer gaming and the new open-world RPG has been built to be enjoyed with friends. From battling other players in PvP combat to taking on powerful enemies and mutated creatures, the game is full of opportunities to play with pals. But how do players make that happen?

There are a couple of ways in which players can play with their friends in Fallout 76. The first involves navigating the game's menus. Here is a step by step:

  1. Open up the Fallout 76 menu and cycle over to the tab labelled "Social"
  2. Then, choose between the sections Recent, Team or Friends in order to find the person you would like to play with
  3. Select the player that you'd like to play in co-op with and either click "join" or "invite" - joining their game will see you join their server while inviting the player will send them an invite to join yours.
  4. Once you have joined the player's server, or once they have joined your game server, you have to walk up to them and complete the button prompt for "Invite to Team." There will also be a button prompt for trading with that player if you so choose.

It's important to note that until you complete step four, you will just be two players on the same game server. Players have to complete step four of the step-by-step process above in order to be on the same team. Moreover, teams can include up to four players.

fallout 76 beta gameplay

The other method for playing with friends in Fallout 76 is to accept an invite from someone. When another player has invited you to join their server, the prompt will show up on screen. Once this appears, just head to the social menu again to accept it.

With this all said, there is one pretty major caveat: players have to be on the same platform in order to play Fallout 76 together. Fallout 76 does not have cross-platform play with Bethesda executive Pete Hines confirming that the studio has no plans to make the feature available during the launch window.

However, Hines didn't explicitly rule out adding cross-play in a post-launch update. Bethesda has already confirmed that it is planning a lot of post-launch DLC for the game, though it has yet to fully detail its schedule or what that content may be like. This means that at some point in the future, Fallout 76 players across all platforms will be able to play in co-op.

Fallout 76 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.