Far Cry 5: Everything You Need To Know About Playing Co-Op

It’s only a matter of time before you get fed up with the NPCs in Far Cry 5 and start craving actual human companions in the game. While Ubisoft does a great job of making Hope County’s citizens believable and relatable, they’re not as helpful or as chaotic as your actual friends. Luckily, you can invite others over to a multiplayer session in Far Cry 5.

It’s a welcome addition after the feature’s absence in the preceding game, Far Cry Primal. Hence, there’s more fun to be had in Far Cry 5 while you wage war against cult zealots who have nothing better to do than huff hallucinogenic flowers while land-grabbing. Still, Far Cry 5’s multiplayer can be quite chaotic as well (that’s the trademark) so it pays to know what you’re getting into before you purchase the game for that aspect of gameplay.

Updated April 3, 2023, by David Kinder: Far Cry 5 marked a new beginning for the series: cooperative gameplay. Even though there were some co-op features in Far Cry 4, nothing beats playing a fully-fledged co-op game with your best friend. Before you play, you should see some of the stipulations that come with Far Cry 5’s co-op. Some features may keep you invested, whereas others will push you toward more open-ended adventure games.

12 You Can Only Play Co-Op After Leaving Dutch’s Island

Far Cry 5 begins with cutscenes showing your character arriving in Hope County and facing Joseph Seed. In true Far Cry fashion, things quickly go wrong, and you escape to an island in the center of the map and meet up with Dutch.

This island serves as an extended tutorial section where the game explains how to do everything during a series of quests. You can’t complete this section of the game with a buddy, as co-op only becomes available after you leave Dutch’s island.

11 The Game Uses A Drop-In Drop-Out System

You may notice that there isn’t a co-op story option in the main menu, and when you select a new game, there’s no lobby. Far Cry 5 uses a ‘drop-in drop-out’ co-op system. So, you invite or join players when you’re already in the game.

It makes for a more fluid system as your friends can join or leave as they like — depending on your settings. Plus, it means if you lose connection to your teammate, you aren’t kicked back to the main menu, nor do you lose progress.

10 There’s Only A Co-Op Mode For Vanilla Multiplayer

You’re probably wondering what type of multiplayer does Far Cry 5 offer. Multiplayer is your standard, run-of-the-mill experience. Some missions let you race and shoot targets with friends, but there’s no competitive side to it unless you start counting in-game kills like Gimli and Legolas in The Lord of the Rings.

On the plus side, there’s little to no toxicity in that kind of multiplayer scheme. It’s all about helping others progress their game session. Moreover, connection issues won’t hamper the experience too much, as you won’t return to find yourself dead and gearless.

9 It’s Not Cross-Platform

Before diving into Far Cry 5 for its multiplayer experience, a caveat you might want to consider is that the game doesn’t support cross-platform play. Far Cry 5 is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. However, there’s no way for PC players to connect with their console buddies and vice versa, meaning the pool of people you can play with might get limited.

Another logical consideration for this is that PC players typically have an aiming advantage due to a control scheme more conducive for shooting games. So, not having cross-platform play might be for the best.

8 Up To Two Players Can Team Up

In addition to the potentially limited number of friends to play with in Far Cry 5’s multiplayer, the number of active multiplayer participants in a given main game session is two. So you’ll have to be picky with who you invite or who you join or help.

One of the possible reasons for this is that the co-op enemies likely weren’t programmed or armed to deal with more than two competent entities in the game world. More than two players would also trivialize the difficulty curve.

7 The Campaign Is Playable In Co-Op

If you were hoping for enemies unique to co-op, there aren’t any. Far Cry 5 works as a co-op as well as a single-player experience. One thing to consider is the lack of split-screen co-op, which other games with multiplayer campaigns have implemented.

Both of you will need to own a copy of Far Cry 5. The upside is that you’ll be physically present in the host player’s campaign. However, progress will only update in the host’s game. The partner player gets a pretty rough deal at times.

6 Co-Op Is Limited For The Invited Friend

You’re probably wondering what other limitations are in store with Far Cry 5’s co-op. The host player benefits the most from the multiplayer experience. The joining player doesn’t get much apart from the typical loot.

They get neither mission nor story progress, as the only progress that gets filled is in the host player’s game world. On top of that, only the host can interact with the NPCs. If the joining player strays too far, they respawn to the host player. The game gets pretty finicky if you try to roam too far from each other.

5 Co-Op Can Be Buggy

Ubisoft games are no stranger to glitches. Far Cry 5’s co-op is wonderful with the right friend, but it can also be downright frustrating. NPCs can break if your partner ventures too far from you and become aggressive. Mission dialogue and sequencing can get pretty messed up if you interrupt them.

Traveling in vehicles can also be a gamble. There’s a good chance a mission will break if you travel in different cars. Because of the respawn mechanic, your vehicle could break or stop working. As with everything, your mileage will vary.

4 Friendly Fire Is Possible

With all the restrictions for the multiplayer mode, some might deem it stale, but you can always spice up the experience. For example, turning on the friendly fire can really change your gameplay.

For obvious reasons, the friendly fire setting is off by default, but you can turn it on anytime. If you want more challenge and realism in co-op, friendly fire will add that missing risk. Being careful with your shots certainly adds another layer of difficulty in a game that’s easy enough to cheese.

3 There’s A Map Editor

After you’ve completed the campaign, multiplayer still has another big surprise. Far Cry Arcade is a dedicated and powerful map editing tool that allows you to create new maps and scenarios. Hope County is already a large area with miles of beautiful scenery. The editor simply helps bring out its best potential.

Use Far Cry Arcade to let your creativity run wild, share custom-made maps with other players, and check out their maps. This way, players can create a community and experience within Far Cry 5 that’s bigger than co-op.

2 PvP Is Available Via Player-Made Maps In Far Cry Arcade

In addition to having a flexible and relatively complex map editor and creator, Far Cry 5’s Arcade also allows PvP for those looking for competition rather than co-op. PvP also doesn’t have a two-player limit like the co-op mode.

You can create PvP modes within the Arcade and let others fight each other in your maps. Some of the maps can be phenomenal and rewarding too. Apart from PvP, you can create your own custom story or co-op missions with the map editor.

1 There’s No Official PvP Support

Despite having a makeshift PvP mode in the map editor, there is no official PvP support for Far Cry 5. No score-tracking or reward tracks exist that are sanctioned by the developers.

As such, don’t expect much from its player-created PvP mode. It’s lackluster and unrewarding compared to games with dedicated PvP modes, such as Halo or Battlefield. Still, if you have friends or want to try out what else Far Cry 5 has to offer, then its multiplayer is good enough.