Dead by Daylight has supported cross-platform play since August 13, 2020. This feature allows players to connect and play with friends across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Whether you’re using a Switch or gaming on a high-end PC, you can team up (or betray each other) regardless of the platform. Here’s everything you need to know on how to play Dead by Daylight cross-platform with friends, send invites and join a trial, no matter which system you’re using.
Step 1: Turn On Cross-Play
Before you can party with your multiplayer friends on other platforms, make sure that the Cross-Play option is enabled in Dead by Daylight.
Here’s how:
- From the game’s main menu, open Settings (the gear icon).
- Head over to the Online tab.
- Find the Cross-Play option and make sure it’s enabled.
This option should be ON by default, but its always good to check. If the crossplay option is grayed out, leave the lobby and try again from the main menu. Once it’s on, you’ll start seeing players from all platforms.
Step 2: Add Your Friends Across Platforms
Dead by Daylight doesn’t use console friend lists. It uses its own in-game system. You’ll need your friend’s DBD ID — that’s their username followed by a “#” and four letters or numbers (like HexedJane#7b2a).
To send a friend request:
- Click the Friends icon at the bottom left of the screen.
- Tap Add Friend at the top.
- Type in your friend’s full DBD ID and hit Search.
- Once they appear, click “Invite Friend.”
- They’ll see your request next time they launch the game and can accept it from the Requests tab.
Once you’re connected, you won’t have to go through that again.
Step 3: Join or Invite to a Party
Ready to jump into a trial together? Here’s how to team up:
- From your Friends list, click on the + sign beside their name.
- Choose to Invite to Party or Join Party, depending on who’s hosting.
That’s it. If everyone’s in the lobby, you’re all set to play. Just remember: only one killer per group, the rest are survivors.
Trouble Joining Up? Try These Quick Fixes
Even killers get stuck sometimes. Here are a few easy things to try if you can’t invite or join friends in Dead by Daylight:
- Double-check Cross-Play is still turned on for everyone.
- Set Party Privacy to Public in the Online settings — makes sure invites go through.
- Use the exact DBD ID, including capitalization and the four-character code.
- Restart the game to refresh your session (this fixes a lot of weird bugs).
- Make sure you’re both updated to the latest version of the game.
Still stuck? Removing and re-adding your friend often does the trick.
What About Chat?
Unfortunately, there’s some disappointing news for console players: in-game text chat is only available for PC users, meaning console players cannot see it at all. Additionally, there is no built-in voice chat feature. If you want to communicate during matches, you’ll need to use Discord or your console’s party chat.
Can I Play With Mobile Players?
Short answer, no. Dead by Daylight Mobile is a separate thing entirely. It doesn’t cross-play with PC or console, and you can’t transfer progress there eitherdoesn’t cross-play with PC or console, and you can’t transfer progress there either. Mobile players can only play with other mobile players.
Final Thoughts
The best way to play Dead by Daylight is with people you actually enjoy jumping into the fog with — and now it doesn’t matter what everyone owns. Once you’ve got Cross-Play turned on and everyone added by their DBD ID, it’s basically just “invite and go.”
It takes about two minutes to set up once, and then you never have to think about it again — you just load in, joke around in the lobby, and hope you don’t get tunnelled off hook at five gens.
Grab a couple of friends, queue up, and make memories. That’s really what the horror game is for.
