How to join friends and enable crossplay in Wild Hearts multiplayer

The Wild Hearts multiplayer aspect is core to the monster-hunting game’s experience, elevating its strengths when you’re cooperating with others. Whether you want to create a private session to invite your old Monster Hunter online pals or just need some backup during a tough hunt, there are plenty of options to pick from.

With the integration of the EA online service, figuring out how Wild Hearts’ multiplayer works can be confusing at first. This guide covers everything you need to know so you can focus on what’s important: Taking down molten lava gorillas and poisonous crows.

How does multiplayer in Wild Hearts work anyway?

So, if you’ve been wondering exactly what the Wild Hearts multiplayer aspect entails, you’re not alone. Even if you’re knowledgeable of how Monster Hunter handles its online component, this is a different franchise altogether, and the influences in this particular regard aren’t quite the exact match.

Here’s the gist: Up to three people (including yourself) can play cooperatively in a group. You can do this either for specific hunts, having folks tag along while you hunt down a single beast, or as a session that lasts an indefinite time. By opting for the latter, you can play through the main story co-operatively. (At the moment, PVP isn’t a thing in Wild Hearts, in case you were wondering.)

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo/Electronic Arts via Polygon

While you can technically play the game on your own — there’s even an option to disable all online elements in the Settings menu — the experience is thoroughly enhanced when you have other hunters on your side.

For example, the building mechanic is perfect for multiplayer sessions. Doubling or tripling the number of constructions is enormously beneficial for hectic battles. One player can focus on building walls in front of somebody while they’re patching themselves up, while another can set up a trap or craft a healing mist. You can also finish up constructions of other people, in case they ran out of the necessary material (called Thread in the game’s parlance) before completing a structure.

Moreover, if your health drops to zero, your teammate(s) will have a chance to revive you and vice versa. The caveat is that, instead of having three “lives” per hunt as you’d normally do, these are shared in multiplayer. If nobody manages to revive you, you’ll lose one of them. At the very least, the revive window is quite generous, so you’ve got room to prevent this from happening, or at least try to.

In terms of communication, Wild Hearts relies on the usual suspects: emotes, text quips á la Rocket League, and in-game voice chat. As always, nothing beats communicating with friends, especially for some of the tougher hunts, but the options are there if you want to use them. And yes, you can disable voice chat at your own discretion.

How to enable crossplay in Wild Hearts

There is crossplay in Wild Hearts, which means that players from PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S can play with each other.

You can opt in and out of this option by heading over to the Settings, tabbing to Overall, then the Online submenu, and toggling the Crossplay option on or off.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo/Electronic Arts via Polygon

How to play Wild Hearts with friends

If you want to invite friends in Wild Hearts multiplayer, follow these steps:

1. First, you need to create a session — you can do so by interacting with a campfire, either on the islands themselves or in Minato.
2. Press the “Warm Yourself” button prompt, and then select Play Online.
3. Now, Create Session and set your preferences — if you just want to invite friends, either set a random password or tweak the tag so it displays Friends Only.
4. Once you’ve hosted the session, open the map and circle to tabs on the Communication screen (next to Inventory).
5. From the Friends List tab, select any friends you want to invite to your game (up to three people can play together, including yourself).
6. Your friend should then get a notification to join your session.

Of course, your go-to group might not always be available when you need them, so there are other options to consider.

How to request assistance and join other players in Wild Hearts’ online mode

There are a few ways in which you can interact with other players in Wild Hearts. Keep in mind that you don’t always need a session — there isn’t a global shared session or something similar — but the game offers shortcuts of sorts to make it easier depending on what your needs are.

If you’re having trouble hunting a tough foe, you can Request Assistance from other players. An easy way to do so is to open the map, hover over the icon of the beast you want to tackle, and press the Request Assistance button prompt. This will create a search for any players willing to jump in. Remember that you first need to use a Hunting Tower to spot any nearby beasts. Also, you can access this option when you stumble upon them directly while traversing the area — but if you want to be careful, sending over the request beforehand is the way to go.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo/Electronic Arts via Polygon

Now, if you want to be the one helping others in Wild Hearts, you can use a Hunter’s Gate. Interacting with one in the islands will open up an Assistance List, from which you can select which hunt you want to help others with. Then, the game will search for any eligible sessions currently taking place. It’s likely that you’ll be spending a lot of time farming materials, so why not help others when you’re repeating hunts? Just a thought!

Alternatively, you can use Campfires to create sessions, and just tweak the preferences to your liking. That way the session will keep on running even after a hunt is done, and players can drop in and out whenever from that moment on.

How does story progression work in Wild Hearts multiplayer?

Yes, there is story progression when you’re playing with others in Wild Hearts, but it’s important to understand how it works.

If you head over to Settings, then Overall, then the Online submenu, you’ll see an option called Guest Story Progression. If enabled, as long as your progression as a guest matches the one of the host, you will both progress together. Meaning that, once you exit the multiplayer session and you’re back on your own, the progress you made into the story will remain as is. If you disable the option, it won’t count.

That’s pretty much all you need to know about how multiplayer in Wild Hearts works! One last thing: Make sure someone reminds you to eat before going on a hunt. Seriously. Don’t forget to eat.

For more help with Wild Hearts, read our beginners guide and explainers on multiplayer, fast travel, stamina, and building camps.