Fun is great, but Saints Row multiplayer would mean fun with friends – and that's mayhem squared in all the right ways.
The mean and wacky streets of the Saints Row reboot are crowded with competing gangs, all trying to elbow the Saints out of the picture. Navigating the Saints Row map and figuring out how to make money in Saints Row are challenging enough – you don't have to go it alone. After all, if the gangs of Santo Ileso are going to outnumber and outgun you – even with your favorite Saints Row weapons – isn't it fair to search around for your own backup?
While they serve a story purpose, the Saints Row characters pale in comparison to a real friend you can spray with a bottle of water if they refuse to help you or screw up the mission for the twentieth time. So, if you've got a special someone in mind, and especially if your spray bottle is topped off, let's get into it.
Saints Row multiplayer
Saints Row multiplayer – is there multiplayer?
While Saints Row is a reboot of the series, you can rest easy as multiplayer didn't get left in the dust. The Saints Row reboot brings back co-op multiplayer for you and your friends to cause all kinds of mayhem across Santo Ileso as you take on the different Saints Row factions.
So load up your character and get ready to rumble with your favorite friend:
- From the starting screen, click on Co-op Campaign
- You can choose between Host Game if you want to have a friend jump into one of your existing saves, Join Friend if you're looking to get into a game a friend has invited you to or is already hosting, Host New Game is for starting an entirely new game for a friend to join you, and Matchmaking will look for someone online who's hosting a game to join.
You'll also want to check out the co-op settings in the pause menu, which has a variety of useful options. One to highlight is that by default your games will be open to random people dropping in at any time. You can turn this off by changing the Session Privacy setting to fine-tune who you want (if anyone) joining you.
Once you get started, the co-op itself is pretty straightforward and forgiving. You're limited to one other player, but you can drop in and out of games and play the same campaign with multiple people over time (or even complete portions of the game entirely single-player too). Likewise, any progress you make will be carried over to your own saves, as you'll bring back any items or XP that you garner in your friends' games. It also means that if you encounter a mission in your own game you can skip over it if you've already completed it elsewhere.
Saints Row multiplayer – is there crossplay?
The Saints Row reboot is getting a limited form of crossplay, where you'll be able to play with others on the same console family. People on the PS5 version can play with their PS4 brethren but not with those on the Xbox Series X, or Xbox One – and of course those on the Microsoft consoles can play with each other similarly.
PC players will be limited to their own player pool between the PC and Google Stadia, so they'll not be able to swim in the console waters at all.
Saints Row multiplayer – Is there any PVP?
Unfortunately, you won't find any real PVP in the Saints Row reboot, since the focus is on co-op play.
There are some fun options to mess with your co-op partner by completing side challenges to fill up a 'prank meter' to the top. This will let you mess with your partner-in-crime by turning them into an inanimate object temporarily. Just use caution if your friends are easily annoyed – or more importantly if they're just a short drive away from putting you in a justifiable headlock for your shenanigans.
