Guides
For the person who sets up the party
Short pieces on the practical side of playing online with friends: parties across consoles, voice chat, bringing in someone new and reading a shop before anyone spends.
Setting up a party across PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Switch
How friend codes, publisher accounts and platform settings fit together, and the one setting that quietly blocks cross-play on each console.
6 min read · PeopleBringing a friend who does not play games into your group
The first evening decides whether they come back. How to choose the game, set expectations and avoid the three things that make a newcomer feel like baggage.
5 min read · SetupVoice chat without the faff: in-game, console party or a separate app?
Which voice option to use for a mixed-platform group, why push-to-talk is worth the habit, and how to keep strangers out of the channel.
6 min read · MoneyReading a game’s shop in five minutes, before anyone in the group spends
How to tell a cosmetic shop from a pressure shop, what a season pass really commits you to, and the questions to ask before the group agrees to spend.