The answer, and where it comes from
Cross platform play — the thing most people mean when they write crossplay — is listed by storefronts as its own feature flag, and the listing for Risk of Rain 2 on PC does not carry it. Its feature list covers online co-op and online PvP, Steam Cloud, leaderboards, Remote Play and Family Sharing: every multiplayer feature except the one that would let a PC player share a lobby with someone on a console.
The game's own description never uses the word either. What it says is that you tackle the adventure solo or with up to three friends in online co-op, which describes a same-platform lobby of four.
Confirmed by official sources — this is read directly from the storefront's published metadata rather than from a secondhand summary, and you can check it yourself on the store page.
What the listing does advertise
- Single-player
- Multi-player
- PvP
- Online PvP
- Co-op
- Online Co-op
- Full controller support
- Steam Trading Cards
- Steam Cloud
- Steam Leaderboards
- Remote Play on Phone
- Remote Play on Tablet
- Remote Play on TV
- Family Sharing
Two of those are worth separating from the rest. Online co-op is the ordinary way to play with people — invite from your friends list and you are in the same run. Remote Play is a different feature: it streams the game from your machine to a screen you own, so it extends where you can play rather than who you can play with.
Three things people mean by “crossplay”
| Term | What it actually means | Listed for this game |
|---|---|---|
| Crossplay | Players on different hardware sharing one lobby | Not listed |
| Cross-save | Progress following your account between devices | Not listed |
| Remote Play | Streaming the game to another screen you own | Listed for phone, tablet and TV |
| Online co-op | Playing the same run with other people | Listed, up to three friends |
The confusion is usually between the first and the fourth row. A group that owns the same console has online co-op whether or not the game supports crossplay, which is why “can I play with my friends” has two different answers depending on what your friends own.
The one rule that decides what your friends see
Content sharing inside a lobby is unusually generous here. Only one player needs to own an expansion for its monsters, stages and items to appear for the whole group, so a single purchase changes the run for everyone — which is the practical difference between playing alone and playing with a group that owns nothing.
Survivors are the exception. New characters are selectable only by owners, so if you want to play the newest character while your friends watch, that is the part of the expansion only you can use. The full breakdown of what each expansion shares is on the expansions overview.
Where the game runs
The PC listing covers Windows, with no Mac or Linux build, and it publishes eleven interface and subtitle languages including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Turkish. Risk of Rain 2 is also published on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, so a group that all owns the same console can play together even though a mixed group cannot.
One rotating mode is worth knowing about when you are setting up a session: the Prismatic Trials, a challenge that changes on a schedule and is separate from the ordinary run. It is the part of the game to point new players at once they can clear a stage without help.
Frequently asked
- Is Risk of Rain 2 crossplay?
- The store listing for the PC version does not advertise cross-platform multiplayer. Its feature list includes online co-op and online PvP, and cross-platform play is a separate flag that is absent from that list — so the answer published by the storefront itself is no.
- How many players can play together?
- The game's own description puts it at solo or up to three friends in online co-op, which is four players in one lobby.
- What is the difference between crossplay and cross-save?
- Crossplay means players on different hardware share a lobby. Cross-save means your progress follows your account between devices. They are separate features and a game can have one without the other, which is why a storefront lists them as different entries.
- Is Steam Remote Play the same as crossplay?
- No. Remote Play streams the game from your PC to another device you own, so a friend watching on a tablet is still playing your copy on your machine. It does not put them into a lobby from their own platform.
- Do my friends need the expansions to play with me?
- Not for the content. One owner in the lobby is enough for an expansion’s monsters, stages and items to appear for everybody — but the survivors that expansion added stay selectable only for owners.