The “Outdated Game Client” message in ARC Raiders on Xbox typically appears when you try to join a friend on another platform and the game versions don’t match.
Quick answer: Crossplay fails because Xbox is behind the latest hotfix, so you can’t join PS/PC parties until Xbox receives the same patch and versions match.
What triggers the “Outdated Game Client” message (Xbox)
The message is a version-mismatch block. If one platform has received a hotfix and another hasn’t, the game treats the older build as incompatible for joining sessions that require crossplay compatibility.
In the current scenario, a hotfix rollout introduced issues and a follow-up hotfix was being rolled out, but Xbox delivery was delayed. During that delay window, Xbox crossplay is unavailable, which leads to “Outdated Game Client” when an Xbox player tries to join (or be joined by) a friend on PS or PC who has the newer build.
What you can expect while Xbox is behind on the hotfix
When Xbox is on an older build than PS/PC, invites may still be sent and received, but the join attempt fails with “Outdated Game Client.” Crossplay is effectively blocked until version parity is restored.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Xbox player tries to join a PS/PC friend | Join fails with “Outdated Game Client.” |
| PS/PC friend tries to join an Xbox player | Join fails with “Outdated Game Client.” |
| Invites across platforms | Invites can appear, but accepting them fails due to the version mismatch. |
| Crossplay availability (during the delay) | Disabled for Xbox until the Xbox build catches up. |
How to confirm it’s resolved
You’ll know the issue is resolved when Xbox has the same updated build as the other platforms and crossplay is re-enabled. Practically, that means the join action completes normally and the “Outdated Game Client” message no longer appears when you attempt to party up with friends on PS/PC.
If you update and instead see a different message such as “online services unavailable,” that indicates a separate availability problem. In that case, the client version mismatch may no longer be the blocker, but the game’s online services are not letting you sign in or connect at that moment.
Why it can still happen after you “checked for updates”
The most common reason is that the Xbox hotfix is not yet live for your platform or region, so the console reports the game is up to date even though another platform has already moved ahead.
It’s also possible for a newly-published Xbox update to appear only after a console restart refreshes the store and update queue. If the hotfix hasn’t been released to Xbox yet, restarting won’t change the outcome, and crossplay remains unavailable until the Xbox patch arrives.
