ARC Raiders’ 1.26.0 crossplay fix works, but the real problem is what it wipes

If ARC Raiders crossplay got silently switched off after update 1.26.0, the short answer is ugly but simple: the current workaround is to reset all game settings to default from the options menu. That does restore crossplay for affected players on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It also wipes your custom controls, keybinds, and other personalized settings in the process. So yes, there is a fix. No, it is not a good one.

That matters more than it sounds. ARC Raiders just rolled out its Riven Tides update on April 28, 2026, adding actual game-moving stuff: a new coastal map, the Beachcombing map condition, new gear, and the ARC Turbine threat that changes how expeditions play. Instead of the conversation being about whether the update improved the extraction loop, a chunk of the player base got shoved into basic multiplayer triage. For a game that depends on people grouping up across platforms, breaking crossplay is not some side bug living in a corner menu. It hits the social glue.

The workaround is real, but it is absolutely a last-resort fix

Based on player reports and Embark Studios’ own acknowledgement, the bug leaves the crossplay option disabled after patch 1.26.0 and prevents players from turning it back on normally. Embark confirmed on Discord on April 30 that it was investigating. The studio’s temporary recommendation is a full settings reset.

Practically, that means going into the game’s options and restoring defaults for your settings. Players affected by the bug have reported that this re-enables crossplay functionality. The catch is the kind of catch that always sounds small in patch support messages and feels much worse when you’re the one doing it: you lose your custom setup.

• Custom controller layouts
• Keybind changes on PC
• Sensitivity and aiming tweaks
• Potential accessibility-related adjustments
• Other menu preferences you may not remember until they are gone

That is why this should be treated as a workaround, not a fix. If you play with a highly tuned setup, especially on PC, or rely on specific accessibility options, resetting everything is a tax. The advice is useful because it works for many players. It is not consumer-friendly because it solves one problem by torching your configuration.

What actually broke here matters more than one menu toggle

Crossplay bugs are not all equal. In some games, they are annoying but survivable because the platform populations are healthy on their own. ARC Raiders is not the kind of game that wants that gamble. Extraction shooters live and die on matchmaking health, squad convenience, and friction-free group play. The second a patch starts walling off friends because one is on PS5, one is on Xbox, and one is on PC, you are not just dealing with a technical issue. You are eating into the habit-forming part of the game.

That is the part PR blurbs never say out loud. “We’re investigating” is standard. The real issue is that live-service momentum is fragile, especially right after a content update that is supposed to pull people back in. Riven Tides should have been an easy win: new map, new pressure point in the ARC Turbine, new reasons to queue up. Instead, some players hit a bug that directly interferes with the reason many of them log in together in the first place.

And because the workaround requires a settings reset, the message to players is basically this: if you want to keep playing with your friends right now, pay with convenience. Maybe more than convenience, depending on how customized your setup is. That is not catastrophic, but it is exactly the kind of friction that chips away at goodwill after a patch that should have been building it.

The uncomfortable question is why settings corruption touches crossplay at all

This is the question I would put directly to Embark: why is crossplay state tied closely enough to local settings that a full reset can revive it? Because that detail tells you a lot about the bug’s shape, and right now players are being asked to accept a blunt-force solution without much explanation.

There are a few possibilities, and none of them are especially flattering. The cleanest read is that update 1.26.0 created a bad interaction with saved configuration data, leaving the crossplay flag stuck in the off position or making the UI incapable of properly rewriting it. If that is what happened, a reset makes sense mechanically. It also suggests the patch altered something foundational enough that old preference data and new logic stopped playing nice.

Why should players care about that technical nuance? Because bugs like this tend to cluster. When a patch introduces a settings compatibility problem, the obvious visible failure might be crossplay, but the underlying issue can have a wider blast radius. Maybe that is all this is. Maybe it is a single isolated bug. But a settings reset workaround usually means the problem sits deeper than a broken checkbox.

To be clear, there is no public evidence right now of a broader configuration meltdown beyond the crossplay issue. That is exactly why the next official note from Embark matters. Players do not just need “we’re aware.” They need to know whether this was a one-off migration problem, whether affected settings can be preserved in a future patch, and whether the studio has identified a root cause.

If you use the reset, do it like someone who expects the menu to betray them

If you need crossplay back immediately, the settings reset is the current path. But do it carefully. This is one of those situations where five minutes of prep saves you from rebuilding your whole setup from memory later.

• Take screenshots of every settings page before resetting, especially controls, sensitivity, audio, HUD, and accessibility menus.
• If you are on PC, document your keybinds separately. Those are the easiest to forget and the most annoying to rebuild.
• If you use non-default controller layouts, note deadzone and aim settings too. Those numbers matter more than people think.
• After resetting, confirm crossplay is actually enabled before redoing all your preferences. Do not spend ten minutes rebuilding your setup only to discover the workaround did not stick.
• Once crossplay is restored, reapply settings methodically instead of changing everything at once. If the bug is tied to a specific config conflict, that gives you a better chance of noticing it.

If you do not urgently need cross-platform matchmaking, waiting for an official patch is also a rational choice. PC Games and other outlet reporting on the bug made the same practical point: some players may be better off sitting tight rather than wiping a carefully tuned setup for a temporary workaround. That is especially true if you play solo, stay within one platform group, or depend on customized accessibility options that are tedious to reconstruct.

This is not a disaster, but it is a live-service competence check

Every online game ships a patch that breaks something annoying sooner or later. That part is almost boring. What separates a tolerable stumble from a trust problem is how fast the studio explains it, how clean the fix is, and whether players are asked to absorb unnecessary pain while waiting.

Embark at least did the first necessary thing by acknowledging the bug and confirming it is under investigation. Good. Basic, but good. The next step is the one that actually counts: delivering a patch that restores crossplay without forcing users to nuke their personal settings. Anything less leaves this in the category of “technically solvable, operationally sloppy.”

And yes, that sounds harsh. It should. Crossplay is not a bonus feature in a modern multiplayer game built around squads and repeat runs. It is infrastructure. When infrastructure fails right after a major content update, players are not wrong to judge the update by the friction it introduced rather than the features it added.

What to watch next

The next meaningful signal is not another Discord acknowledgement. It is a patch note specifically stating that the 1.26.0 crossplay issue has been fixed without requiring a settings reset. That is the line that matters.

• Watch for an official hotfix from Embark that references crossplay or settings persistence directly.
• Check whether the studio explains root cause, not just symptom. If it mentions corrupted or incompatible saved settings, that tells players a lot.
• Pay attention to whether restored crossplay also preserves custom configurations going forward. That is the difference between a real repair and another bandage.
• If more reports appear around settings-related oddities beyond crossplay, that would suggest the issue is broader than one toggle.

For now, the practical recommendation is straightforward. If you need to squad up across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC right now, use the reset workaround and document your settings first. If you do not need crossplay immediately, waiting for Embark’s proper fix is the less annoying play. Either way, the bigger takeaway is not that ARC Raiders has a menu bug. It is that one of the most important parts of its multiplayer ecosystem got knocked offline by a major update, and the current solution asks players to clean up the mess themselves.