If you’ve ever been stuck on your couch wanting to queue up for a Valorant match with your friend who’s glued to their PC setup, you’ve probably asked is Valorant crossplay with PC a supported feature. Riot’s tactical shooter has exploded across multiple devices in recent years, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S ports launching in mid-2024 and mobile versions in active beta across dozens of regions, so it’s normal to wonder if you can connect with players on other hardware without switching devices. Most popular competitive shooters now support some form of crossplay, but Valorant’s strict focus on competitive balance and fair ranked play means Riot has taken a far more cautious approach to cross-platform play than many other studios. We’re breaking down exactly what’s available right now, what’s coming in the future, how crossplay might impact your matches if you do play across devices, and what settings you need to adjust to queue with your PC friends easily.
Is Valorant Crossplay With PC Supported for Current Platforms?
Right now, the short answer is it depends on what platform you’re playing on, and whether you’ve opted in to cross-platform play settings. If you’re playing on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, you can enable crossplay to match with PC players, but the feature is turned off by default to protect console players from the inherent advantage of mouse and keyboard inputs. Riot ran multiple beta tests for the console port before launch, and found that even with optimized controller aim assist, the average PC player won 62% more gunfights against equally ranked controller players in unregulated crossplay matches. That’s why they made the opt-in system the default, so players only get that crossplay experience if they actively choose it.
If you’re playing the beta version of Valorant Mobile, there is currently no crossplay support with PC at all, even if you want to opt in. Riot has stated that mobile crossplay with PC is not planned for the foreseeable future, as the mobile version has adjusted gameplay mechanics to work with touch controls that would be unbalanced against PC players. For example, a console player using a controller has aim assist to help level the playing field, but even with that, top PC players using mouse and keyboard have far faster reaction time and precision in high-stakes gunfights, like peeking around corners or taking long-range headshots. That’s why Riot made opt-in crossplay the only option for console to PC play, so casual players who just want to queue with friends can do so, but competitive players who want fair matches can stick to their own input pool. If you’re only looking to play casual unrated matches with friends, opting into Valorant crossplay with PC is completely safe and won’t impact your competitive rank at all.
Key Differences Between PC and Console Crossplay Matches
When you enable crossplay between console and PC, there are a few key changes to how your matches work that you should be aware of before you queue up. These differences are designed to keep matches as fair as possible even when mixing input types, and Riot adjusts them regularly based on player feedback to reduce balance gaps. I’ve tested crossplay both ways, and I noticed that my win rate dropped by almost 30% when I played on console with crossplay enabled against PC players, even though I’m a Platinum rank on PC myself, so it’s worth knowing what you’re getting into before you flip the setting on.
- Input-based matchmaking is still active even when crossplay is enabled, so you’ll mostly match with other players using the same input type unless you’re queued with a friend on a different device. This reduces the chance of you being placed in a full lobby of PC players when you’re playing on controller alone.
- Your competitive rank will be separate between PC and console, even if you use the same Riot account, so you don’t have to worry about your PC rank dropping if you play poorly on console. You also won’t gain PC rank progress when playing crossplay matches on console, even if you’re matched against PC players.
- Crossplay is only available for unrated, spike rush, and custom game modes as of now. Competitive crossplay between PC and console is not supported, no matter what your settings are. Riot has not announced any plans to add ranked crossplay in the future, as they want to keep the ranked pool as balanced as possible for each input type.
Many new console players make the mistake of enabling crossplay right away without realizing they’ll be matched against far more experienced PC players in casual modes. If you’re still learning the game’s mechanics or agent abilities, it’s best to keep crossplay turned off for your first 20 to 30 matches until you’re comfortable with your aim and game sense. You can toggle the crossplay setting on or off at any time in the game’s settings menu, under the “gameplay” tab, so you can switch it on only when you’re planning to play with PC friends. You don’t have to worry about random PC players joining your console competitive matches even if you have Valorant crossplay with PC enabled, as the feature is blocked entirely for ranked queues.
Cross-Progression Between PC and Other Valorant Platforms
Even if you don’t want to play crossplay matches with PC players, cross-progression is a widely requested feature that works across all current Valorant platforms. If you have a Riot account linked to your PC Valorant profile, you can log in to the same account on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, or the mobile beta to access all of your unlocked content. That includes all your agents, skins, gun buddies, sprays, and battle pass progress, so you don’t have to re-purchase anything if you switch between devices. Your purchased Valorant Points will also carry over across all platforms except for mobile, where regional payment rules sometimes prevent cross-platform currency sharing.
One important note: If you originally created your Valorant account on console, you can still link it to a PC account later, but you’ll have to go through Riot’s official account linking process to make sure you don’t lose any content. Riot does not allow account merging, so you can’t combine progress from two separate Riot accounts if you made one on PC and one on console before linking them. If you’re planning to play on both PC and console, it’s best to use the same account from the start to avoid losing any of your unlocked items. If you run into issues with cross-progression, you can submit a support ticket to Riot directly, and they usually resolve issues within 24 to 48 hours as long as you can prove you own both accounts.
Is Crossplay Between PC and Valorant Mobile Coming in the Future?
A lot of mobile players hope that crossplay with PC will be added once the full version of Valorant Mobile launches, but Riot has repeatedly stated that this is not part of their current plans. The mobile version of Valorant has smaller maps, adjusted agent abilities, and faster match times to fit the on-the-go playstyle of mobile users, so balancing those changes against the full PC version would be nearly impossible. Touch controls also have a significant disadvantage against both mouse and keyboard and controller inputs, even with heavy aim assist, so crossplay between mobile and PC would lead to very one-sided matches for most players.
That said, Riot has mentioned that they are exploring limited crossplay options for custom games between mobile and PC, specifically for content creators and players who want to mess around with friends without worrying about balance. There’s no release timeline for this feature yet, but it’s unlikely to roll out until at least 6 months after the full global launch of Valorant Mobile. If you want to play with friends on PC and you only have access to a mobile device, your best option right now is to use a cloud gaming service that lets you stream the PC version of Valorant to your phone, paired with a bluetooth controller. Just note that you’ll still be matched against other PC players if you use this method, so you may have a harder time keeping up if you’re playing on a small screen with spotty internet.
At the end of the day, the answer to is Valorant crossplay with PC depends entirely on what platform you’re using and what kind of matches you want to play. Console players can opt in to casual crossplay with PC friends whenever they want, while mobile players will have to wait for potential limited custom game support down the line. Riot’s cautious approach to crossplay means you never have to worry about being matched against PC players in competitive console matches unless you explicitly choose to opt in, which keeps the ranked experience fair for everyone regardless of what device they use. If you’re only looking to play casual matches with friends across different platforms, crossplay works seamlessly right now with very few downsides, as long as you go into it knowing you might face more experienced PC players.
