Escape the Backrooms Crossplay: How to Set Up PC and Console Co-op

Escape the Backrooms now lets PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S players survive the liminal corridors together in the same lobby. The console versions arrived on 28 May 2026, and a matching crossplay patch went live on the Steam edition, so a single group can mix platforms without anyone creating a separate third-party account.

Quick answer: On PC, update to version 1.3.0 or later, then open Settings from the main menu, go to the Game tab, and confirm crossplay is on. One person hosts a private room and shares the room code shown in the top-right corner of the waiting room; everyone else picks Join and enters that code.

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You will know crossplay is working when a notification appears confirming it is active as you host or join a game.

Crossplay requirements for PC and console

Crossplay is enabled by default, but players who owned the PC version before the patch should double-check the toggle, since older settings can carry over. Console players have it available out of the box, and the feature works across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in any combination.

The one hard requirement sits on the PC side. Your game must be updated to version 1.3.0 or later, which is the patch that introduced cross-platform play. Without that version, PC players cannot share lobbies with console friends.

Detail	Value
Supported platforms	PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X\|S
PC version needed	1.3.0 or later
Players per lobby	1–4
Third-party account	Not required
Console price	$12.99 / £9.99 / €12.99 (also on Game Pass)

The console releases include all content added to the PC edition since its 2022 Early Access launch, so the levels, entities, and cosmetics line up across platforms. You can confirm the console availability and pricing on the publisher’s announcement.

Enable crossplay in the settings menu

Launch the game and stay on the main menu. Open the Settings menu from there before starting any lobby.

Tab over to the Game option inside Settings. This is where the cross-platform play toggle lives.

Make sure crossplay is switched on. If you only want to play with people on your own platform, you can turn it off from the same place at any time, which is useful when joining random public rooms.

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PC players who bought the game before the crossplay patch should verify this toggle manually. Old configuration files sometimes leave it in an unexpected state.

Host a multiplayer room and get the room code

From the main menu, choose New Game. You will be asked to pick between two modes.

Mode	What it does
Story Mode	Starts at the beginning of the game so your group progresses and solves puzzles in order.
The Hub	Lets you jump straight to a chosen level, ideal for short sessions or chasing missed achievements.

Set the privacy and room size. Mark the room private if you are playing with specific friends, which generates a code only they can use. Leaving it public lists your lobby for anyone to join.

Adjust the player count for your group. The standard maximum is four players, though PC users can install mods that raise that limit. Playing alone still means creating a room, set to private with a player count of one.

Wait in the lobby screen and find the room code in the top-right corner. Share it with your friends, and watch their names appear on the left side as they connect.

Start the session. On Story Mode, you must pick a difficulty before launching, and on The Hub you select the individual level you want to load.

Join a friend’s game across platforms

From the main menu, choose the Join option. This opens a list of public lobbies.

Either pick a public lobby from the list or type in the code your host shared for a private room.

Confirm your choice and wait to load in. Once you drop into the lobby with the rest of the group, the run begins. The active-crossplay notification confirms the mixed-platform connection took.

Crossplay and lobby size limits to watch for

Four players remains the supported cap across PC and console. Mods that push lobbies past that number exist on PC, but they are not built for mixed platforms. Pushing a console player into an enlarged lobby has caused crashes on load, and dialing the limit back down to four resolves it. If you want a stable mixed-platform group, stay within the standard four-player ceiling.

If multiplayer stops appearing entirely on PC, the usual checks are confirming the game updated correctly, verifying the local files, and making sure crossplay is still enabled after the patch. Keep both the host and joining players on the latest version so the lobby logic matches on every side.