Need for Speed Unbound crossplay and Lakeshore Online mode explained

Need for Speed Unbound crossplay is available, linking Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC players together, but this only applies to the Lakeshore Online mode and not the main Story. This means you can spin your wheels in an anime style and go head to head with your racing buddies, no matter which platform they're playing on – as long as you're connected as EA Friends to find each other, that is.

There's plenty of fast and furious racing to be had, full of drifting and nitrous boosts, so Need for Speed Unbound crossplay gives you the biggest pool of players to go head to head with and prove your skills behind the wheel. However, some players prefer to only go up against those on the same platform to ensure they're racing on a level playing field, so as well as explaining how it all works, we've also got details for how to disable Need for Speed Unbound crossplay if you'd prefer not to use it.

How to use Need for Speed Unbound crossplay

Need for Speed Unbound crossplay is available and enabled as standard, which means you'll automatically be matched up with players from Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC platforms. It should be noted that this only applies to the Lakeshore Online part of the game, as the main Story element is a single-player experience, and if crossplay is enabled then you'll see the above notification screen before you join a Lakeshore Online session. Once you're in, you can send invites to your contacts on any supported platform, as long as you're EA Friends.

If you want to disable Need for Speed Unbound crossplay so you're just matched up with players from the same platform, then this can be done by accessing the Settings and Accessibility menu then opening the Game section and moving the slider next to Enable Cross-Play to off. You can only change this setting while in the main menu, so you'll need to back out completely if you're in a current session before adjusting your matchmaking pool.

Want to know what we thought of the latest NFS? Then take a read of our Need for Speed Unbound review, where we described it as "A breathtakingly fast open-world street racer."