How do players add friends to their friends list?

The player does not need to add the friend on every platform.

I was adding / removing and being added and removed per platform for the investigation.

On XBOX:

• Player clicks Play from the Main Menu and then goes to the friends tab where they will be able to "Add Friend"
• "Find friends by Gamertag", you have to enter the friend's exact GamerTag.
  • My friend's Gamertag is Gideon#7348, however you have to enter it without the hashtag or else the gamertag doesn't show up
  • When you search for the Gamertag, sometimes it doesn't show the Avatar and if you didn't know you were supposed to enter the numbers after someone's Gamertag, there's the potential to add the wrong person. This is also because the other player doesn't need to accept your invite in order for you to be added. It just automatically adds them once you select "Add Friend"
• After adding the friend, there is a success message that appears at the top of the screen
• Returning to the friends tab / friends list does NOT show the friend even when they're online and playing
  • The only reason I was able to see my friend playing at all in the friend tab is because we're on the same wifi network

Nintendo Switch has the same userflow, screens and experience as Playstation 5.

The following platforms have the same userflows, screens and experiences as XBOX.

• PC (WINDOWS)
• iOS (Apple)
• Android
• Chromebook

Playstation 5:

• The player goes through the same flow for the most part on Playstation 5 as they experienced on XBOX
• The main difference is that the "Add Friend" button is a "Find Cross-Platform Friends" button on Playstation 5
• After entering a Gamertag, it searches for the friend and brings up the same profile screen where there's a "Add Friend" button available
• After adding the friend there is a success message that appears at the top of the screen

IMPORTANT Because adding a friend uses the XBOX Gamertag, if a player does not link their accounts or is not on the XBOX or PC (WINDOWS) platform that uses the XBOX Gamertag by default, they will not be able to play with friends across different platforms

Do players have to add friends to Minecraft that are already on their XBOX friends list?

• UXTestFriend is already on my XBOX friends list
• Searching for them on Minecraft, I see that they are already a friend and I do not have to add them again, but this is not clear from how the Minecraft friends list works
• I can also see that Gideon (Gideon7348) was added to my XBOX friends list after I added the friend from within the Minecraft game

What does it look like when a player's friend adds them?

On XBOX:

• When a player's friend adds them on Minecraft on XBOX, there is a message that appears letting them know who added them as a friend
• Returning to the list view, there are still no friends shown on the friend list.

On PC (WINDOWS):

• There is a message that appears letting the player know that a friend has added them
• Returning to the list view, there are still no friends shown (no screenshot because it's the same view as the XBOX screen)

On Playstation 5:

• Research was conducted over a voice call where I was able to confirm if my friend had added me or not. There was no messaging or anything to indicate that my friend had added me to their friends list

The following platforms do not show any messages when friends add the player:

• Playstation 5
• Nintendo Switch
• iOS (Apple)
• Android
• Chromebook

How does a player remove a friend from their friends list?

On XBOX:

• The userflow to remove a friend from their friends list is to go from Main Menu → Play → Add Friend → Search for the friend's Gamertag → Click "Friend" to open the drop down → Scroll to the bottom → Unfriend
• This is the same userflow and screens on the following platforms:
  • PC (WINDOWS)
  • iOS (Apple)
  • Android
  • Chromebook

On Playstation:

• The userflow to remove a friend from their friends list is: Main Menu → Play → Find Cross-Platform Friends → Search for friend's Gamertag → Remove Friend
• This is the same userflow and screens on Nintendo Switch

Can a player remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the platform they added the friend on?

• I added a friend on XBOX
• I have the option to remove the friend on Playstation 5
• Yes, the player can remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the one they added the friend on

Invite a player to become a member of a Realm

On XBOX:

• To invite a player to the realm on XBOX the userflow is: Main Menu → Play → Worlds → Edit Realm → Manage Realm → Members
• Once invited, players move into an "Invited Friends" section of the members screen
• The following additional platforms have the same userflow, screens and experience:
  • PC (WINDOWS)
  • iOS (Apple)
  • Android
  • Chromebook

On Playstation 5:

• To invite a player to the realm on Playstation 5, the userflow is the same as the one for XBOX but some of the screens are different
• When on the "Find friends" screen, the header and copy on this screen both indicate that it's specifically for cross-platform friends
• On the members screen, when a friend has their accounts linked, it shows both their Playstation account and their XBOX account in the friends list. Playstation friends are not shown here otherwise.

On Nintendo Switch:

• Inviting a player to the realm on Nintendo Switch uses the same userflow as XBOX, but the "Find friends" screen is different, displaying a message about it specifically being for cross-platform friends

Be invited to become a member of a Realm

On XBOX:

• Once invited to a realm, there's an envelop icon that appears on the Main Menu
• Selecting this icon will open a "Realms Membership Invites" screen where the player can accept or reject the invite

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms.

Invite players to play in the Realm

Inviting players to play in the Realm is slightly different than when players are being invited to play in a World.

On XBOX:

• The player can go into the Pause Menu, and then on the panel to the right there's an option to "Invite to Game"
• Selecting "Invite to Game" will give the player a new screen where they can select from a list of online and offline friends. These are limited to the people who have already been invited to the Realm as members
• There's also an option for "Add Realm Members" which will take players to the screen where they can invite friends to join the realm as a member
• The following additional platforms have the same userflows, screens and experience:
  • PC (WINDOWS)
  • iOS (Apple)
  • Android
  • Chromebook
  • Nintendo Switch

On Playstation 5:

• The userflow on Playstation 5 is the same as on XBOX, except that the screen which shows the players who are available for inviting will show both the player's Playstation account name and their XBOX Profile

Invite players to a World

When players are playing in a World instead of a Realm, the invite options are different.

On XBOX:

• Once the player goes into their pause menu, there's an option on the right hand side to "Invite to Game"
• Selecting "Invite to Game" opens a new screen where the player will be able to see all of their XBOX friends in the list
• They also have the option to "Add Friend" which takes the player through the "Find Friend by Gamertag" flow
• The following platforms share the same userflows, screens and experience:
  • PC (WINDOWS)
  • iOS (Apple)
  • Android
  • Chromebook

On Playstation 5:

• The userflow is the same on Playstation 5 as it is on XBOX, however the screen that displays which friends are available to invite to the game is different
• On the "Invite Friends to your Game" screen, it shows both the Minecraft friends that the player has added, as well as all of the friends on their Playstation platform friends list

On Nintendo Switch:

• The userflow is mostly the same, with the exception being that the action on the invite friends screen says "Find Cross-Platform Friends"

Being invited to play in a Realm or a World

This investigation was done on Playstation 5:

• If the player is sitting outside of the game when their friend invites them to play Minecraft, they will not see any notifications that they were invited. This is true on the following additional platforms:
  • Nintendo Switch
  • iOS (Apple)
  • Android
  • Chromebook
• If the player is sitting inside Minecraft, they will see a notification at the top of the screen.
• They will also see the notification if they are playing another game already (whether in a realm or a World)
  • XBOX and PC (WINDOWS) do not show a notification at the top of the screen when the player is invited to play
• This experience is the same regardless if the player is being invited to play in a realm, or in a World

Joining a friend's game

• If the friend is playing in a Realm or a World and the game is joinable they show up on the joinable friends list in the friends tab
• There does not seem to be any indication of what platform the friend is currently playing on

How do friends see the player across platforms?

• Since this research is focused on cross-platform experiences, I am excluding the scenario of XBOX player seeing another XBOX player in their game.
• Playing on PC (WINDOWS), my XBOX friend sees my XBOX Profile name over my character / avatar
• Playing on Playstation 5, my XBOX friend sees my XBOX Profile name over my character / avatar (UXBradley)
• Playing on iOS (Apple), my XBOX friend sees my XBOX Profile name over my character / avatar (UXBradley)
• Playing on Android my XBOX friend sees my XBOX profile name over my character / avatar (UXBradley)
• Playing on Chromebook my XBOX friend sees my XBOX profile over my character / avatar (UXBradley)

Minecraft's Text Chat

On XBOX:

• Minecraft's text chat options include:
  • Mute All Chat
  • Mute Emote Chat
  • Text to Speech for Chat
  • A choice between two fonts
    • Mojangles (default)
    • Noto Sans
  • Size available for the font (change the font size)
  • Line spacing
  • Chat color
  • My mentions color
• These are the same options whether the player is in Realms or a World
• When a player speaks in text chat, it appears on the screen in chronological order of when the text was sent.
• The text stays on the screen for a few seconds before fading away.
• Opening the text screen shows more history of the text.
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across all platforms

Emotes

On Playstation 5:

• Players also have access to emotes and can customize which ones they have set to their buttons
• They can also purchase more emotes
• The emotes trigger both an animation and display text in the text chat
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across all platforms
  • The only difference is that to purchase on Playstation the player needs Tokens instead of Minecoins. All other platforms use Minecoins.

Muting a player

On Playstation 5:

• In the pause menu, the player is able to navigate over to the right hand panel and select any of the players in the list
• Selecting a particular player will bring up their profile
• In the profile there are options to "Mute" and "Block"
• Muting the player makes it so that none of their text chat appears
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms

Blocking a player

On Playstation 5:

• Similar to muting, the player can also block another player by selecting "Block" from a particular player's profile
• Blocking a player will also automatically mute them
• When a player is blocked, none of their text or game invites will appear
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms

Can a player play Minecraft on two platforms at the same time?

• A player can not be in a Realm on two platforms at the same time. The second platform that tries to join the realm will get an error message that states "Cannot join world. The account you are signed in to is currently playing in this world on a different device."
• A player can be in a Realm on one platform and play in a World on another platform at the same time.
• A player can be in a World on each platform at the same time.

Does the player lose access to social features if they don't link their Microsoft Account?

On Playstation 5:

• Yes, the player loses access to social features on the Playstation 5 if they don't link their accounts
• The most obvious restrictions are:
  • Not being able to play on a Realm
  • Not being able to add Cross-Platform friends
  • Not having access to servers
  • When playing in a World, not being able to invite Cross-Platform friends
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience on Nintendo Switch

On iOS (Apple):

• The player loses access to the same social features as they do on Playstation 5, but there's a few changes to the screens and experience
  • The player still has access to servers
  • When playing in a World, the player does not have the ability to invite other players to the game at all
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience on the following platforms:
  • Android
  • Chromebook

How do players add friends to their friends list?

On XBOX:

• At the very top of the "ADD FRIENDS" section, there's a "Find player by Display Name" search field
• The player can find a specific player using this and send them a friend request
• Otherwise, friends who have connected their platform accounts to Epic Games accounts or were added as friends in the Epic Games launcher will show up in the friends list in game
  • XBOX friends also have an additional option to "ADD EPIC FRIEND" which fails if they do not have an Epic Games account linked to their XBOX account
    • There are probably other reasons for the error message that popped up, but I know for a fact that the friend I tried to "ADD EPIC FRIEND" action on in this research does not have an Epic Games account linked
    • Successful invites will display a "FRIEND REQUEST SENT" message
• Also in the "ADD FRIENDS" section:
  • There is an option to "REFER A FRIEND"
    • Refer a friend takes the player to a QR code which goes to: Fortnite Refer A Friend 3.0 | Play Together and Earn In-Game Rewards
  • There is also a list of "RECENT PLAYERS" and the player is able to select one of those people and add as a friend
  • There is also a "LOOKING FOR PARTY" section
    • The player can turn this feature on or off
    • They are able to change their tags
    • There is a list of suggested "AVAILABLE PLAYERS" who the player can add as friends or invite to a party
• This is the same experience across all platforms (minus the notes that were specific to the XBOX userflow)

NOTE Adding a friend (specifically adding an EPIC FRIEND) will also add them as a friend to the player's overall Epic Games account.

Receiving a friend request

On XBOX:

• When a someone sends the player a friend request, the "ADD FRIENDS" section icon gets an alert (exclamation point) and the person who sent the invite appears in that list
  • If the player happens to be in game, they will see a banner appear on the left hand side of the screen
  • They are also able to accept the request from the banner by holding down the button indicated (on Android they can just tap the banner to accept)
• The player can select the person who sent the invite from the "FRIEND REQUESTS" list and then they will have the option to "ACCEPT", "REJECT" or "BLOCK"
• If the player accepts the invite, there's another banner that appears on the left side of the screen which states "FRIEND REQUEST ACCEPTED"
• The player is able to receive and respond to the invite from any of the platforms where their account is connected
  • On PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher, the player is able to also see and accept the invite from the Epic Launcher itself, without having to open the Fortnite game
  • However, if the player does open the game before accepting the invite, it is available through the same userflow as seen on XBOX

How does a player remove a friend from their friends list?

On XBOX:

• A player can remove a friend by selecting the person from the friends list
• After selecting the friend from the friends list and choosing "REMOVE FRIEND" the player is asked to confirm that they want to remove this friend
• There's a glitch that happens when someone is removing a XBOX friend who is also an Epic Games friend.
  • When the player completes "REMOVE FRIEND", the friend will stay in the friends list
  • There is no option to remove the friend from the XBOX Live list
  • Restarting the game sometimes will clear the friend from the list
    • I removed UXBradley from my Sterling Seb account, but when I logged into UXBradley, I still see Sterling Seb on my friends list with the option to "ADD EPIC FRIEND" so there just seems to be some glitching / awkwardness surrounding removing friends on the XBOX
• Removing someone as a friend does also remove them from the player's Epic Games account friends list

On Playstation 5:

• A player can remove a friend by selecting the person from the friends list
• They can then choose to "REMOVE FRIEND" and confirm that they want to remove the person from their friends list
• The person is then removed from the player's friend list
• This also removes the person from the player's Epic Games account friends list
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience on the following platforms:
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC (WINDOWS)
  • Android

Can a player remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the platform they added the friend on?

• Yes, a player can manage their friends list from any platform.
• However, if a person has their accounts linked and the player removes them as a friend on a platform outside of XBOX and then returns to Fortnite on the XBOX, the person may still be on the player's friend list under XBOX LIVE friends even if the person was removed from friends lists on other platforms.
  • Example: I remove my friend SterlingSebuwu (Epic Games account) from my friends list on Playstation 5 and then launch Fortnite on the XBOX, Sterling Seb (XBOX profile) will still be on the friends list in the XBOX version of Fortnite. The friend I removed would not show up in the friends list on any of the other platforms. (PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher, Nintendo Switch, Android)

Inviting a friend to a party to play a game

On XBOX:

• If the player is in the Main Menu after selecting a mode to play (essentially waiting in the lobby) and they have a friend who is also in the lobby, they have a quick way to invite them into their party by selecting one of the empty party slots and adding the online friend
• This same thing can be accomplished by going to the Social panel, selecting the friend and then picking "INVITE TO PARTY"
• A banner appears on the left side of the screen confirming that the invite was sent
• If the friend accepts, a "PLAYER JOINED PARTY" banner appears letting the player know that their friend has joined the party
• If the friend rejects the invite there is no notification that they rejected.
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience across all platforms.

Being invited to a party to play a game

On XBOX:

• When a friend invites the player to a party there's a banner that appears on the left hand side of the screen
• The player is able to press and hold the indicated button (Menu button on XBOX) to accept the party invite
• Accepting the party invite will add the player to their friend's party and display a banner on the left hand side of the screen letting the player know they joined their friend's party
• If they missed the banner, the player is able to go into the Social panel and select the friend under "JOINABLE PARTIES"
• Selecting the friend will give the player the option to "JOIN PARTY" or "REJECT INVITE"
• If the player rejects the invite, they are asked to confirm that they want to reject the invite
• Accepting the invite from the Social panel is the same as accepting the party invite from the banner that appears on the side of the screen
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience across all platforms
  • On Android the user is able to just tap the banner on the left side of the screen to accept instead of holding down a button so the banners that appear look slightly different

Joining Parties to play a game

On XBOX:

• The player is able to select their friend from the Social panel and pick the "JOIN PARTY" option from the list of actions available related to the friend
• The player will then join their friend's party and a banner will appear on the left hand side letting the player know that they have joined their friend's party and the party display will transition to show both players on the screen
• The Social panel also updates to show the party at the top of the friends list under new section that appears called "PARTY MEMBERS"
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience across all platforms

Having a friend join your party to play a game

On XBOX:

• If a friend joins the player's party, they will be notified by a banner on the left side of the screen and the screen will transition to show both players in the party display
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience across all platforms
• The Social panel also updates to show the party at the top of the friends list under new section that appears called "PARTY MEMBERS"
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience across all platforms

Leaving Parties

On XBOX:

• If the player invites a friend to a party or the friend joined their party, they are the party lead.
  • If the friend leaves the party, there's a banner that appears on the left hand side of the screen letting the player know that a person left the party
  • The screen also transitions to showing that the friend has left and removes them from the party display
• If the player was invited to a party or joined their friend's party, they are not the party lead.
  • If the player's friend leaves the party when they are the party lead:
    • The player is promoted to party leader and a banner appears on the left hand side of the screen letting them know they are now the party lead
    • The screen transitions to showing that the friend has left and removes them from the party display
• If the player leaves the party:
  • The player is able to leave the party by going to the Social Panel, looking under "PARTY MEMBERS" and selecting the "LEAVE PARTY" option
  • There are no messages that appear once the player has left the party, but their friends are notified in their games that the player has left
  • The Social panel is updated to remove the "PARTY MEMBERS" section and goes back to the normal friends list view
  • The party display is updated to show the player by themselves no longer in a party

Remove player from party

On XBOX:

• The person can be selected from the Social panel and then there's an option to "KICK"
  • The player can also reach this screen by selecting the person in the party and picking the "MANAGE" option
  • The player is unable to kick someone from the party if they are not the party leader
• It asks for confirmation
• The player is then removed from the party and there's a banner that appears on the left hand side of the screen
• This is the same userflow, experience and screens across all platforms (actual controls to access menus are different between platforms)

Be removed from party

On XBOX:

• When the player is kicked from the party there is a banner that appears on the left hand side of the screen that lets them know they were removed
• This is the same userflow, experience and screens across all platforms (actual controls to access menus are different between platforms)

Other notes about parties

On XBOX:

• There is a crown icon displayed for the person who is the team leader
• When the party selects a particular mode to play, there's messaging letting them know if the mode is available to all of the party members or not
• All party members have to indicate that they are ready before the party can enter the matchmaking queue for the selected mode
• Once inside a match, the Social Panel will show "PARTY MEMBERS" at the top, separate from "TEAM MEMBERS"

Seeing which platform friends are playing on

On XBOX:

• Friends who are XBOX friends AND Epic Games account friends, will show as their XBOX Profile (UXBradley) under the XBOX LIVE section of the friends list when they are playing on XBOX
  • This is the same experience no matter what platform the friend is playing on
• XBOX friends who are just XBOX friends will show as their XBOX Profile (Gideon7348) under the XBOX LIVE section of the friends list when they are playing on XBOX
• Epic Games friends who are only Epic Games friends:
  • Note: I removed UXBradley from my XBOX friends list for this investigation
  • Show up as their XBOX Profile (UXBradley) under the EPIC ONLINE section of the friends list when they are playing on XBOX and have their accounts linked
  • Show up as their Playstation account name (PS-UXBradley) with a TV and console icon next to their name under the EPIC ONLINE section of the friends list when they are playing on Playstation and have their accounts linked
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a phone icon next to their name under the EPIC ONLINE section of the friends list when they are playing on Android
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a TV and console icon next to their name under the EPIC ONLINE section of the friends list when they are playing on Nintendo Switch
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a computer icon next to their name under the EPIC ONLINE section of the friends list when they are playing on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher
• If no XBOX friends are online, the XBOX LIVE section of the friends list is not shown

On Playstation 5:

• All other platforms outside of XBOX only show "EPIC ONLINE" friends and do not have a separate platform-specific section of the friends list
• Friends who are Epic Games account friends:
  • Show up as their XBOX Profile (UXBradley) with a TV and console icon when they are playing on XBOX and have their accounts linked
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a computer icon next to their name when they are playing on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a TV and console icon next to their name when they are playing on Nintendo Switch
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a phone icon next to their name when they are playing on Android
  • I am unable to investigate what it looks like when the friend is on a Playstation 5 while I'm also on my Playstation 5 as I do not have the set up to support this scenario in the research

On Nintendo Switch:

• This is the same userflow, screens and experience as on Playstation 5
• Friends who are Epic Games account friends show up as their Playstation account name (PS-UXBradley) with a TV and console icon next to their name when they are playing on Playstation

On PC (WINDOWS):

• Friends who are Epic Games account friends:
  • Show up as their Playstation account name (PS-UXBradley) with a Playstation icon next to their name when they are playing on Playstation
  • Show up as their XBOX Profile (UXBradley) with a XBOX icon next to their name when they are playing on XBOX
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with no icon next to their name when they are playing on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Games Launcher
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a Nintendo Switch icon next to their name when playing on Nintendo Switch
  • Show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a phone icon next to their name when playing on Android

On Android:

• This is the same userflow, screens and experience as on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher except for:
  • Friends who are Epic Games friends show up as their Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) with a computer icon next to their name when they are playing on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher

How do friends see the player across platforms?

Being viewed on XBOX:

• Since this research is focused on cross-platform experiences, I am excluding the scenario of XBOX player seeing another XBOX player in their game.
• Playing on Playstation, my XBOX friend sees my Playstation account name (PS-UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar
• How the players appear in the party display and what name + icon combination shows up over the character / avatar's on this screen is how the person's account name will be displayed in the match
• When being viewed on XBOX, the entire party has the XBOX icon next to their account names regardless of what platform the person is playing on
• Playing on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher, my XBOX friend sees my Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar
• Playing on Nintendo Switch, my XBOX friend sees my Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar
• Playing on Android, my XBOX friend sees my Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar

Being viewed on Playstation 5:

• Playing on XBOX, my friend sees my XBOX Profile name (UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar in combination with the console icon
• Playing on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher, my friend sees my Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar in combination with the computer icon
  • From my side on PC (WINDOWS) Epic Launcher, viewing my friend who is playing on the Playstation I can see their Playstation account name (SterlingSeb) displayed over their character / avatar in combination with the Playstation icon
• Playing on Nintendo Switch, my friend sees my Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) displayed over my character / avatar in combination with the TV and console icon
  • From my side on Nintendo Switch, viewing my friend who is playing on the Playstation I can see their Playstation account name (SterlingSeb) displayed over their character / avatar in combination with the TV and console icon
  • However, over my own character / avatar's head, I can see my Epic Games account name (e-UXBradley) displayed in combination with the Nintendo Switch icon

Comparing this to the investigation on what account names and icon combinations the player sees in the friends list that indicate which platform they're playing on, the displayed names and icons in this party view and what shows in game matches what the player would see in the friends list

Text Chat in the lobby

On XBOX:

• Whether a player is in party or not, if they are in the party screen, there's a on screen UI element that tells the player how to open chat, emote or back out of the screen.
• Using the indicated controls the player is able to open up the chat panel and the keyboard pops up automatically
• When someone sends a message to the text chat it pops up automatically with the keyboard appearing (which blocks the view of the chat)
• If the player has multiple chat windows open, they are able to cycle through them by using "Previous Tab" and "Next Tab" while the text chat is up on the screen

Text Chat in a match

• In a PVP match, even though you can select "WHISPER" in the Social panel when a friend is selected it does not appear that players are able to text chat
• In a PVE match there is also no text chat though the "WHISPER" option exists
• I am unable to investigate if the player is able to text chat in a PVE Campaign scenario as it would require purchasing the Campaign on a second account, and finishing the Campaign tutorial on both accounts

Whispering

On XBOX:

• Players are also able to "WHISPER" a friend which brings up a private chat
• Sending a message will automatically pop the window up for the friend receiving the whisper

Text Chat settings

On XBOX:

• The only setting related to Text Chat seems to be the ability to turn it on or off
• If the Text Chat is turned off and the player opens the Text Chat window, there's a message letting them know they can't use Text Chat because they have it turned off
• Friends messaging the player are not given any indication that the specific person they are messaging (whether in Whisper or Party Chat) has the Text Chat turned off
• Also while Text Chat is turned off, the player loses the ability to "WHISPER" people and the option is not shown when they have a friend selected

NOTE The way the text chat behaves in terms of whether it pops up when a message is received in Party Chat (it seems to always pop up if the player receives a whisper), when the keyboard pops up automatically, etc is different between platforms. I did not detail out which platforms do specifically what but think it's important to call out the inconsistency. Otherwise, the base functionality of text chat is the same across platforms.

Voice Chat

On XBOX:

• Fortnite had a Voice Reporting update which they introduced with a full-screen message when players first opened the game after the update launched.
  • Learn more takes the player to: https://www.fortnite.com/voice-reporting-fags

Party Channel:

• The party channel has an "OPTIONS" button that appears if the player has selected it within the Voice Chat panel
  • This just collapses or expands the bar that has "LEAVE" and "REPORT CONVERSATIONS" in it.
• If all the players within the party have voice reporting turned off, there's a line under PARTY CHANNEL header which lets everyone know that the voice reporting is turned off
  • If a player has voice reporting turned on, the line changes to let everyone know that voice reporting is turned on.

Speaker notification:

• In the lobby if someone is speaking there's a banner that appears in the lower left hand corner of the screen
  • There is also a speaker animation that indicates someone is speaking in the Social Panel
  • The speaker animation also appears next to the player's name above their character / avatar in the party display to indicate who is speaking

During a Match:

• Banner notifications do not seem to appear during the match
• The speaker animation will appear next to the player's name in the team widget in the upper left hand corner
  • It will also appear if the player has the Social panel open
• In the Social panel the player can switch between the Game Channel and Party Channel by dropping open the "OPTIONS" bar and selecting "JOIN" for whichever channel they wish to be in
• The section under each channel header shows which players are currently also residing in the channel

Voice Settings Off:

• When voice settings are turned off, there is a message in the Social Panel → Voice Chat that lets the player know they have it turned off and voice chat can't be used

Voice Chat Settings:

• These are not carried / shared across platforms even if the accounts are linked. The player has to turn on voice chat on every platform and set the settings per platform.

NOTE All platforms share the same userflows, screens and experience as XBOX (and Playstation for the Game / Party channel switch during a match) except for Android where instead of "PUSH TO TALK" it's "TOGGLE VOICE"

Emotes

On XBOX:

• In the lobby the player is able to bring up the Emotes wheel, which has several different pages that the player can scroll through:
  • Locker Emotes
  • Emojis
  • Emotes
• During a match the player is also able to bring up the Emotes wheel, but more options are available:
  • Sprays
  • Emojis
  • Locker Emotes
  • Jam Loops
  • Emotes
• These can be seen by everyone
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (exact controls to bring up menus are different between platforms)

Squad Commands

On XBOX:

• These are not quite like the emotes but are a quick wheel of tools for players to communicate with their teammates
• This userflow, screens and experience is the same across platforms (exact controls to bring up menus are different between platforms)

Muting another player

On XBOX:

• Other players can be muted through the Social panel
• Once the player is muted:
  • They are unable to send text chat messages
  • They are unable to voice chat with the player that muted them. They can still join the channel but can not be heard by the player that muted them.
    • There's a X next to the speaker icon to indicate someone who is muted in all places where the speaker icon appears
• Speaker notifications that normally appear on the left hand lower corner of the screen do not appear for the player who was muted
• This persists even if the player leaves the party
• A muted player can still send party invites and join the player's party
• The player can be unmuted from the Social panel
• A person can not be muted if the player is not currently in a party channel or game channel with them

Blocking another player

On XBOX:

• Other players can be blocked through the Social panel
• The player is asked to confirm that they want to block this person
• Once the player is blocked:
  • They are unable to send text chat messages and are basically muted, however the muted speaker icon does not go into effect here
  • The speaker notifications do not appear for this player if they are in a voice chat channel with a person who has blocked them
  • The blocked player can not join the party of the person who blocked them
  • The blocked player can not send party invites to the person who blocked them
• A blocked player can no longer see when the status of the person who blocked them (Meaning that they won't even see them on their friends list)
  • The person who did the blocking is removed from the blocked person's friends list
  • The blocked person is not removed from the friends list of the person who blocked them
    • They will appear in the friends list under which ever section they normally appear under when they are online or offline
    • They will also appear in the blocked section of the friends list
• The player can be unblocked from the Social panel

Can a player play Fortnite on two platforms at the same time?

• No, the platform that the player was already on will be logged out and the new platform they logged into will be the one that stays connected (Example: I was playing on XBOX and then logged on to Fortnite on Nintendo Switch. My session on XBOX will get disconnected and I will connect and log in on Nintendo Switch)

How do players add friends to their friends list?

On XBOX:

• In the Social screen, players are able to add their friends to the friends list
• It will bring up a window that asks for the friend's email or Battle.Net BattleTag
• Once a valid entry is entered, the player is able to send the request

On Playstation 5:

• The userflow, screens and experience is the same
• I looked went through this process on Playstation 5 and invited the same friend – it does not seem to know that I've already sent a friend request previously

This is the same userflow, screens and experience on PC (WINDOWS) Battle.Net

Receiving a friend request

• If the player is in game and receives a friend request, there will be a banner that appears in the upper left hand corner of the screen
• If they miss the banner, they are able to go into the Social screen and accept or decline the friend request
• This is the same userflow, screens and experience across the platforms except for PC (WINDOWS) Battle.Net where the player also has the ability to respond to the friend request in the Battle.Net launcher before they even open the game
• If the player is in the Main Menu before they have entered a game, they will not see any notifications or indication that there was a friend request sent to them
• Accepting the friend request does not send a confirmation message to either the person who requested or the person who accepted
  • However if both are online when the friend request is accepted they may see a log in message appear in the upper left hand corner
• The player is able to respond to the friend request on any platform where their account is linked

How does a player remove a friend from their friends list?

• While in game, the player is able to go to the Social screen, select the friend they want to remove and there is an option to remove the friend from the menu that appears
  • On XBOX
    • XBOX friends will show up in a XBOX tab of the Social screen
    • XBOX friends can not be removed from within the Diablo IV game
    • A friend who is a Battle.Net friend and a XBOX friend will show up in both tabs of the Social screen
      • Removing a Battle.Net friend will not remove them from the XBOX tab
  • On Playstation 5
    • Playstation friends will show up in a Playstation tab of the Social screen though I'm not sure if they only show up when they're in game or online on Playstation
  • On PC (WINDOWS) Battle.Net
    • There are no additional tabs for the Social screen
• The friend does not have to be online when the player wants to remove them
• There is no notification sent when friends are removed

Can a player remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the platform they added the friend on?

• Friends can be removed from any platform where the player's accounts are linked. What platform the friend was added on has no effect on this.

Inviting a friend to join the party

• Friends can be invited to join the party through the Social screen after the player has selected a specific friend
  • On XBOX, XBOX friends can be invited to the game when selected through the Social screen in the XBOX tab
  • Battle.Net friends can also be invited to the game
  • This can be done even if the friends are not currently online
• When the friend is online, the player can invite them to join the party
  • If the player is further along in the campaign than the friend they are trying to invite, there are some restrictions
• Once a friend has been invited, a portal opens on the Social screen to indicate that the invite was sent
  • If the player backs out of the Social screen there is a UI element on the left hand side of the screen that indicates there's a pending invite
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Being invited to join a party

• When the player is invited to a party by a friend, a banner shows up on the left hand side of the screen
• If the player responds to this banner they are able to accept or decline the invite
• Going to the Social menu, the banner is still on the left hand side of the screen
• Selecting the friend who invited the player does not give any options to accept or decline the invite – the acceptance or rejection of the invite has to be done through the banner that appeared
• Once the countdown ends or the player responds the banner disappears
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

When a friend joins the player's game

• There's a setting available under Options → Connect called "Enable Quick Join"
• If this is enabled then friends can join the player's game without an invitation
  • If a friend is joining a banner appears that states "Invite pending"
  • Then the friend appears in the party and a banner appears in the upper left hand corner letting the player know their friend joined the party
• If this is disabled, friends must request to be able to join the game
  • A banner appears on the left hand side to alert the player that their friend has requested to join the game
  • Much like the invite to party userflow, the player is able to accept or reject from this banner
  • If the player is in the Social menu, they are able to see the portal animation which ends in the player's friend appearing if the request was accepted
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Joining a friend's party

• If the friend has "Enable Quick Join" enabled then the player will see the option that says "Join Party"
• Selecting this option will bring up a banner on the left hand side of the screen for the player to confirm that they want to transfer over to the friend's world
• Upon loading into the friend's game if there are any issues, there is a warning banner that appears at the top of the screen
• If the friend has "Enable Quick Join" disabled, then the player will see the option that says "Request to Join Party"
  • If the friend accepts then the player will be asked to confirm that they want to transfer over to the friend's world
  • If the party request has been declined, there's a banner that appears in the left upper hand corner of the screen
• This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Leaving parties

• The player is able to leave the party through the Social screen
• There is an option at the top for the player to leave the party
• Once the player selects to leave, they must confirm that they are OK with progress being lost
• After confirming they still want to leave, the keyboard pops up for whatever reason
• The player is then returned to their world and a banner appears in the upper left hand corner stating that they left the party

When a friend leaves the party

• When a friend leaves the party there's a banner that appears in the upper left hand corner that lets the player know the friend has left
• If the friend leaves while they were the party leader, there's two messages that pop up in the left hand upper corner:
  • The player has been promoted to party lead
  • The friend has left the party
  • There is also a banner that appears asking the player if they wish to return to their world state

Removing someone from the party

• The player can remove a party member through the Social screen by selecting the person they want to remove and accessing the options menu
  • If the player is not the party leader they are unable to remove members of the party
• Once the player is removed, a banner appears in the upper left hand corner letting the player know that the person was removed

Being removed from the party

• If the player was removed from the party they will see the loading screen
• When they have loaded back into their world there's a banner that appears in the upper left hand corner that lets them know they were removed from the party

These userflows, screens and experiences are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How do friends see the player across platforms?

• While in game, the player's character name is what is displayed across all platforms
• Friends and other people see the player's character name in combination with the current character level
• There is no indication of what platform the player is playing on

Text Chat

• The player can open text chat by bringing up the actions wheel and selecting "Open Chat"
• They can cycle through the different tabs / different chat channels though aside from Local and Trade, it's not clear what all of the tabs are for
• Quick Message gives the player some pre-written options to pop into chat
• Link Item will let the player choose an item from their inventory to link into chat
• Expand will bring the chat open full screen
• There are several chat settings that can be found in Options → Connect
  • Chat Settings
    • Chat Background opacity
    • Show quest in dialog chat
    • Chat timestamp display
    • Join local chat channel
    • Join trade chat channel
  • Chat Bubbles
    • Show local chat bubbles
    • Show trade chat bubbles
    • Show party chat bubbles
    • Show clan chat bubbles
  • Players can also adjust the colors for the following chat messages:
    • System messages
    • Errors
    • Combat Warning
    • Party Chat
    • Local Chat
    • Trade Chat
    • Whispers
    • Clan chat
  • Additional Options
    • Mature Language filter
• Players are also able to select people from within the text chat which brings up a new menu of options including allowing the player to view a person's profile or send them a whisper
  • This menu does not give the player an option to mute someone
  • This menu does give the player the option to block someone

Sending and receiving whispers

• The player can send anyone a whisper
  • The player can whisper a person by selecting them in the text chat and then using the menu to send a whisper
  • The player can go to the Social screen and select a friend and then choose "Whisper" to start a whisper chat with the person
• It will open the text chat and show the name of the person that the player is trying to whisper
• Text chat history will be available in the chat window
• If the player receives a text chat:
  • If the player has the text chat window open, the message will appear on the screen
  • If the player does not have the text chat window open, there will be a speech bubble icon that appears in the lower right hand corner with an alert indicator

These userflows, screens and experiences are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Voice Chat

• Voice chat seems to only be available when:
  • The player is in a party
    • When the player is in a party Voice Chat options are available
    • The player can join Voice Chat by opening Voice Chat from the Social screen
    • They can choose between None, Party and Clan
    • If the player joins voice chat, there's a banner on the left hand upper corner that appears letting the player know they have joined voice chat
    • They will also see a speaker icon appear next to their character name
    • There is a banner that appears showing who is speaking if the player is inside a menu
    • The player can also join the voice chat by selecting their own character from the Social screen which brings up a menu where the player can select "Join party Voice Chat"
    • The player can leave the voice chat by selecting "None" from the Voice Chat options in the Social screen, or by using the menu that pops up when they select their character to choose "Leave Party Voice Chat"
  • The player is a part of a Clan
    • If the player is part of a Clan they are able to join voice chat with their Clan without needing to be in a party
    • To join the Clan voice chat, players have to go to the Clan screen and choose "VOICE"
    • This will bring up the Voice chat options which allow the player to choose between None, Party and Clan (Party is disabled if the player isn't currently in a party)
    • From the clan screen players are able to see who is currently in the voice chat
    • When a Clan member is speaking, there is a banner that appears on the left hand side of the screen
      • On XBOX there is a XBOX platform icon next to the name of the person who is playing on XBOX
      • On Playstation 5 there is also a Playstation platform icon next to the name of the person who is on playing on Playstation 5
      • This banner looks different than the one that appears when the player is inside a menu while someone is speaking in party voice chat
      • The Clan banner appears regardless if the player is inside a menu or not

When a party member joins or leaves voice chat:

• When a party member joins voice chat there is a banner that appears in the upper left hand corner letting the player know that someone joined
  • The person also gains a speaker icon next to their name
• When a party member leaves voice chat, there is a banner that appears in the upper left hand corner letting the player know that someone left
  • The person also loses the speaker icon that was next to their name

These userflows, screens and experiences are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Voice Chat Settings

• Voice chat settings on XBOX and Playstation 5
  • Auto-Join Voice Channels
  • Voice Chat Volume
  • Microphone Output Volume
  • Auto-Detect Voice Activity
  • Auto Detect Sensitivity
  • Voice Chat Focus
  • Voice Chat Focus Amount
  • Transcribe Voice Chat
• On PC (WINDOWS) Battle.Net, players have the same settings as XBOX and Playstation but there's an additional few settings available on PC (WINDOWS) Battle.Net:
  • Voice Chat Mode
  • Voice Chat Output Device
  • Microphone Device

Emotes

• In the wheel of actions, the player can cycle between different pages of interactions available
• There are emotes available for the player to use, which can be seen by everyone
  • If there is an associated animation or chat bubble it appears when the emote is triggered
  • If there is an associated text chat, it appears on the screen when the emote is triggered

Muting another player

• The player only has an option to mute someone if the person is actively within a Voice Chat channel (this applies if the person is in the party voice chat or the clan voice chat).
  • If the player is not currently in the voice chat, there is no option to mute them
• Once the player has been muted, the speaker icon gains a disabled state
  • This is true whether the person was muted in party chat or clan chat
• The mute is not persistent between voice chat channels
  • If the person was muted in the Clan Chat and then joins Party Chat, they are not muted in the Party Voice Chat
  • Likewise if the person was muted in the Party Chat and then joins Clan Chat, they are not muted
  • Unmuting works similarly where the person who was muted needs to be unmuted in each channel individually
• The mute does not apply to whispers or text chat. The muted person is still able to whisper the person who muted them and their message will come through
• The player can be unmuted through the same menus that the player used to mute them
• The muted player is not notified that they have been muted

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Blocking another player

On XBOX:

• The player can block someone by selecting the person and opening the player menu
• There is an option to "Block Player"
• Once the player selects this option there is a confirmation screen that pops up asking the player to make sure they want to complete this action
  • The blocked player is removed from the Battle.Net friends list but not from the XBOX friends list
• If the player is in the same Clan as the blocked person, they can still see them in the Clan list but the blocked person appears in an offline state
• If the player wants to readd the blocked person as a friend, this is not possible while the other player is blocked
• The blocked person however can see the person who blocked them in the Clan list and see their online or offline status.
• The blocked person still has the ability to choose a number of options from the menu (invite, whisper, etc), giving no indication that they were blocked.
  • Invites do not go through when the player has blocked a person
  • Whispers do not go through when the player has blocked a person
  • Friend requests do not go through when the player has blocked a person
• However, the person who blocked them is removed from the blocked person's friend list
• The blocked person can be unblocked through the same menus that were used to block them

Can a player play Diablo IV on two platforms at the same time?

• No, the platform that the player was logged into will be logged out and the player will receive an error message letting them know that the account logged in on a different platform.
• The account that just logged in will be allowed to connect

Does the player lose access to social features if they don't link their account?

• Diablo IV won't even let the player play the game if they don't link to a Battle.Net Account
• If the player cancels out of the account linking they receive two error prompts in a row before they're turned to the Main Menu. There doesn't seem to be a way to bypass the account linking.

What happens if the player is in a local party?

• If there's a local friend playing on the XBOX with the player, they are still able to join friends on other platforms or invite them to their game
• Either player 1 or player 2 can accept the request if a friend from another platform is asking to join the game

How do players add friends to their friends list?

• Players are able to go to Main Menu → Social → Roster and find a "Find SHiFT Friend" and "Manage SHiFT Friends" option
• Friends from the platform who have their accounts linked (like Sterling Seb) will also have an option to invite as a SHiFT friend whereas platform friends (like Gideon7348) who do not have their accounts linked will not give have an option to be invited as a SHiFT friend
  • Friends who have a SHiFT account and have their accounts linked are not automatically added as SHiFT friends
• Selecting "Find SHiFT Friend" takes the player to a screen where they can search for their friend's SHiFT username
• Once found, the player can send an invite and there is a confirmation message that appears that the message has been sent
  • The player is able to send multiple requests so it doesn't seem to know from the requester's side if multiple invites have been sent already
• Once the friend accepts, they are added to the Roster and are indicated with a SHiFT icon next to their avatar picture instead of a platform icon
  • There is no notification when the friend accepts

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Receiving a friend request

• If a player receives a SHiFT friend request and they are in the Main Menu, they will see a notification briefly appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen
• Going to Main Menu → Roster → Manage SHiFT friends, the player will be able to find the friend request and respond to it
• If the player accepts the invite there is a confirmation message that appears when they do
• The friend is then added to the Roster

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How does a player remove a friend from their friends list?

• Manage SHiFT friends does not take the player to a screen where they can manage the friends list
• Players have to select the specific friend they wish to remove and select "Remove SHiFT Friend"
  • Removing a friend as a SHiFT friend does not remove them as a friend from the platform friends list
• The player is asked to confirm that they wish to remove the friend
• Once the player confirms, the friend is removed and a notification appears in the lower right hand corner of the screen
  • The friend who is removed is not notified that they were removed

Can a player remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the platform they added the friend on?

• Yes, a player can manage their friends list from any platform.
• The platform that the friend was added on does not impact what platform can be on when they choose to remove the friend from the friends list

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Inviting a friend to play a game

• The player can invite friends to join their game by going to Main Menu → Social → Roster, selecting the friend they want to invite and selecting "Invite"
• There's a confirmation message that appears in the right hand corner letting the player know the invite was sent
• When the friend accepts, there will be a message in the lower right hand corner letting the player know their friend is joining
• The friend's character then appears on the Main Menu along with the player's character

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Being invited to play a game

• If the player is in game when they receive an invite there will be a notification that appears in the lower right hand corner of the screen
• The Main Menu will transform to add "INVITES" to the top of the list
• Selecting "INVITES" will give the player the ability to join their friend or clear the invites (clearing basically rejects the invite and removes them)
• If the player accepts, there is a notification that appears in the lower right hand corner of the screen letting them know that they are joining someone else's game
• Once connected there's another notification that reminds the player they have cross platform play enabled
• The last notification is letting the player know they have joined a group
• If the player is already playing when they receive the invitation they will still see a notification appear in the lower right hand corner
• In the pause menu, "INVITES" has been added and the player can access it from there
• Accepting will send the player to a loading screen and then into the friend's game

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Joining a friend's game

• If the friend can be joined, the player is able to select "JOIN" from the list of options when they have the friend selected from the Roster
• The player is returned to the Main Menu where there is a notification that appears in the lower right hand corner letting them know they are joining a group
• If the friend is currently playing a game, the player will be sent to the loading screen
• The player will then be asked to pick which character they wish to join as
• The player is then loaded into the game with a notification in the lower right hand corner that lets the player know their character is loading
• There is a transition screen and then the player arrives in their friend's game, with a notification appearing on the upper left hand corner of the screen letting the player know they have joined their friend's game
• If the friend the player is trying to join is on the Main Menu, then the join process looks exactly like it does when the player is invited to their friend's game

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

When a friend joins the player's game

• If the player is in a game when their friend joins, there's a notification that appears on the upper left hand corner of the screen letting the player know that their friend has joined
• Once the friend selects a character to load, they will appear in the player's game
• If the player is on the Main Menu, then the join process looks exactly like it does when the friend is invited to the player's game

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Leaving the group

• If the player is in a game with their friend, they have the option to "QUIT GAME" from the pause menu or the group widget
• It will ask the player to confirm that they wish to quit the game
• Upon confirmation the player is sent back to their own game to the Main Menu
• If the player is on the Main Menu and in a group with a friend, they have the option to "LEAVE GROUP" both from the Main Menu and the group widget
• It will ask the player to confirm they wish to leave the group
• Upon confirmation the player is sent back to their own game to their Main Menu

When a friend leaves the group

• When the friend leaves the group while the group is in game, there's a notification in the upper left hand corner letting the player know that their friend has left
• When the friend leaves the group while the group is on the Main Menu, there's a notification in the lower right hand corner letting the player know that their friend has left

Removing a player from the group

• If the player is the group leader, they have the option to remove someone from the group either through the Social Menu or through the group widget
  • If the player is not the group leader, they have the option to leave the group or quit the game but they are not able to remove anyone
• It asks the player to confirm that they want to kick the person from the group
• Once confirmed, if the group was in a game, there will be notification that appears on the left hand upper corner of the screen letting the player know that the person has left the game
• If the group was in the Main Menu, it follows a similar userflow ending with the notification appearing on the lower right hand corner letting the player know that the person who was kicked has left the game

Being removed from the group

• If the player is removed from the group while the group was in a game, they are sent to the loading screen and then returned to the Main Menu where a large banner appears letting them know that the group leader removed them from the group
• If the player is removed from the group while the group was in the Main Menu, then the banner appears and lets the player know they were removed

These userflows, screens and experiences are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Matchmaking in Borderlands 3

• Players have access to a Matchmaking feature in Borderlands 3
• There are several different categories for players to choose from:
  • Campaign: Find players near your level and mission
  • Takedowns: (locked until player has completed the campaign and is Level 50+) Not for the faint of heart! Takedowns are some of the toughest content in Borderlands 3. Make your way through a large dungeon and defeat the boss at the end.
  • Slaughters / Trials: Find players near your level for a random Slaughter or Trial you have unlocked
  • Arms Race: Find players near your level for a round of Arms Race (locked, Designer's cut is required for all players)
• Once the player selects a category and begins matchmaking there is a Matchmaking status UI element that appears in the upper center section of the screen
• The player is able to navigate through different menus, the Matchmaking UI element is persistent
• Once a match has been found, the player is loaded into the game
• All other players are shown as their SHiFT usernames

How do friends see the player across platforms?

• When the player is playing with other people, their SHiFT name in combination with a SHiFT icon is what is seen across the platforms
  • There does not seem to be any indication of what platform the player is playing on

Text Chat & Voice Chat

• On PC (WINDOWS) STEAM in the Controls as well as the Network & Social settings, it indicates that the player has access to text chat and voice chat
• On XBOX and Playstation 5, these options are not seen in the same settings menus
• While having one account logged on STEAM and the other on XBOX, I tried using the text chat on PC (WINDOWS). The account on XBOX does not see the text chat but there's no indication on either platform that the messages are not getting through.
• I tried using voice chat in the same session and nothing is heard on the XBOX side. There is also no indication on the PC (WINDOWS) side that there's anyone speaking. There are no icons or on screen elements to show the player that voice chat is working.

Emotes

• There are emotes available to the player, however if the other person is not watching them they won't be able to see the associated animation that's triggered when the player selects the emote
• In the same wheel of actions, the player is also able to indicate a location to their group members but there is no associated text that appears on screen

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Muting another player

• The player can only mute another person when that person is in a group with them
• This can be done through the Roster or the Group widget
  • Though I'm not sure what the purpose of the mute is unless both players are playing on PC since console players are not able to use text or voice chat communications
• If muted, the player gains a disabled speaker icon
• The muted person can then be unmuted through the same menus

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Blocking another player

• The player can block someone by finding the SHiFT player and choosing block from the list of options.
• If the person they want to block is in their friends list, they can also go to the Roster and block the person from there
• It asks the player to confirm that they wish to block the person and warns that blocking will also remove the person from the player's friends list
• Confirming will remove the person from the friends list and they will no longer be able to invite the player to groups, join the player's groups or see the player's online status
• The player can unblock the person by finding them in SHiFT and choosing the unblock option, or if the player is on their platform friends list and has their accounts linked, the player can also unblock them from the Roster

Can a player play Borderlands 3 on two platforms at the same time?

• Yes, the player can be in a game on Borderlands 3 on two platforms at the same time
• However, if a friend tries to join them, they will join on the platform that the player most recently logged into. (Example: I logged into Borderlands 3 on XBOX first and then I logged in on STEAM. A friend trying to join my game will wind up joining on STEAM as it was the second platform I logged into.)
• The same applies if the friend sends an invite to the player

What happens if the player is in a local party?

• If there's a local friend playing on the XBOX with the player, they are still able to join friends on other platforms or invite them to their game
• Either player 1 or player 2 can accept the request if a friend from another platform is asking to join the game

How do players add friends to their friends list?

• Players can go to Open Director → Friends → Manage Invites to find players and send friend requests to them
• If the person the player wants to add is already a friend on the platform, they are also able to select them from the list of platform friends within the game and send them an invite from there
• Once the invite is sent, there is a brief confirmation banner that appears at the bottom of the screen
• When the friend accepts there is a brief confirmation banner that appears at the bottom of the screen

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Receiving a friend request

• If the player is in game when they get a friend request there will be a notification that appears in the lower right hand corner that appears
• The player can go to Open Director → Friends → Manage Invites to find invites that have been sent to them and respond
  • The player can do this on any platform where their account is linked
• Accepting the friend request will clear the invite from this screen and add the person to the player's friends list

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How does a player remove a friend from their friends list?

• The player can go to Open Director → Friends → Manage Invites and select the friend they wish to remove.
• It will ask the player to confirm that they want to remove this friend
• Once confirmed, the friend is removed from the friends list

Can a player remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the platform they added the friend on?

• Friends can be removed from any platform where the player's accounts are linked. What platform the friend was added on has no effect on this.

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Fireteam Settings

• Fireteam invites and joins are impacted by the player's Fireteam settings
• The settings that are impacted are:
  • Fireteam Privacy
  • Fireteam Invites
  • Bungie Friend Requests
  • Clan Invites
  • Share Platform Names
  • Invite Notifications
• For Fireteam Privacy & Invites, the player may choose from:
  • Public
  • Clan and Friends Only
  • Friends Only
  • Invite Only
  • Closed

Inviting a friend to join the Fireteam

• The player can go to Open Director → Friends → Roster and invite friends to the Fireteam
• A confirmation banner will appear at the bottom of the screen letting the player know that the invite was sent out
• When the friend accepts the invite, there's another banner that appears at the bottom of the screen letting the player know that their friend has joined the Fireteam

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Being invited to join a Fireteam

• When a player is invited to a Fireteam, there's a notification that appears in the lower right hand corner letting them know there's an invite
• The player can go to Open Director → Friends → Manage Invites and respond to the invites they have received
• They can choose to accept or reject the invite
• If they accept the invite, the player is asked to confirm that they want to join the Fireteam
• After confirming, the banner transitions to show the player a message letting them know that they are connecting to the Fireteam

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Joining a friend's Fireteam

• The player can join their friend's Fireteam by going to Open Director → Friends → Roster and selecting which friend they wish to join
  • If the friend's settings are set so that people can join and the friend is in an area where the player can go, then the player will be able to join them
  • If the player can not join their friend, a banner shows up on the screen to let them know why they can't join their friend's game

When a friend joins the player's Fireteam

• A banner will appear at the bottom of the screen letting the player know that a friend has joined their Fireteam

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Leaving Fireteams

• If the player wants to leave the Fireteam and they are currently in orbit, they are able to do so using one of the controls indicated at the bottom of the screen
• If the player is at a destination, they will be able to pull up the nav mode menu and leave the Fireteam from there

When a friend leaves the Fireteam

• If a friend leaves the Fireteam, there's a banner that appears at the bottom of the screen letting the player know that someone has left

Removing someone from the Fireteam

• Only the Fireteam Leader is able to boot someone from a Fireteam
• If the Fireteam is at a destination, the player has to Open Director → Roster and find the person they want to boot from the Fireteam in the Roster and then select to boot them
• If the Fireteam is currently in orbit, the player can go up to the Fireteam widget in the upper right hand corner and select the player they wish to boot and then boot them
• Booting the Fireteam member will result in a banner that appears at the bottom of the screen letting the player know that the person has left

Being removed from the Fireteam

• Being booted from a Fireteam will return the player to orbit regardless if they were already there or at a destination.
• A banner will appear on the screen letting the player know that they were removed from the Fireteam

These userflows, screens and experiences are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How do friends see the player across platforms?

• While in game, the player's Bungie.Net account name is what is displayed across all platforms
• Friends and other people see the Bungie account name in combination with their current Guardian Rank number
• There is no indication of what platform the player is playing on

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Text & Voice Chat Settings

• The text and voice chat settings are consistent between platforms
• Voice Chat
  • Voice Chat
    • On (Default)
    • Off
  • Team Voice Channel
    • Manually Opt-in (Default)
    • Automatic Opt-in When Solo
• Text Chat
  • Text Chat
    • On
    • Off (Default)
  • Auto-Hide
    • On (Default)
    • Off
  • Nav Mode Invokes Chat
    • On (Default)
    • Off
  • Text Chat Font Size
    • Small
    • Medium (Default)
    • Large
    • Extra Large
  • Background opacity
    • Lowest
    • Low
    • Medium (Default)
    • High
    • Highest
  • Allow Profanity
    • Nobody (Default)
    • Friends Only
    • Clan and Friends Only
    • Everybody
  • Whisper Chat
    • Everybody
    • Clan and Friends Only (Default)
    • Friends Only
    • Nobody
  • Team Chat
    • Hidden (Default)
    • Visible
  • Local Chat
    • Hidden (Default)
    • Visible
  • Clan Chat
    • Hidden (Default)
    • Visible

Text Chat

• When the player is at a destination, the text chat can be accessed through the Nav Mode screen.
• When the player is in Orbit, the text chat is available from the actions available at the bottom of the screen
• The text chat also pops up briefly on screen when someone in the player's Fireteam posts a new message
  • The text chat window will also pop up if the player receives a whisper from another person
• The player is also able to cycle between the "LOCAL" or "FIRETEAM" channels in text chat while the text chat window is on screen
  • If the player has received a whisper message, they are also able to cycle the channel to respond to the whisper
• If the player wants to whisper another player, they have to select the player and choose "Send Whisper"

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Voice Chat

• If the player is at a destination and someone is speaking in voice chat, the person who is speaking has their Bungie account name displayed in the lower right hand corner with an active speaker icon
• If the player is in Orbit, the speaker icon appears on the person's nameplate to show that the person is in the voice chat, and then shows an active speaker icon when they are actively speaking

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Emotes

• Players are also able to use emotes to communicate with other people.
  • Additional emotes are available for purchase in the in game store
• When the player triggers an emote, there is an animation and text that appears in the message feed (this is not the text chat)
• Players are also able to configure which emotes they have equipped by going to the second page of their character screen where it shows which emotes they have available to them and which ones they have currently equipped

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Muting another player

• The player can mute someone else by selecting the person in the Roster and choosing to mute them
• When muted:
  • The player can not hear the muted person's voice chat
    • The person who was muted gains a restricted icon where the speaker icon would normally sit
  • The player can not see the muted person's text chat
  • The player can unmute the person from the Roster

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Blocking another player

• The player can block someone else by selecting them from the Roster and choosing to block them
• There is a warning and confirmation screen that pops up asking the player to make sure they want to block this person and to let them know how the block will work and what it won't do
  • This message has slight differences across platforms where it outlines how it will not impact functions on the platform the player is playing on (Example: The blocked person will still be able to send messages to the player at the XBOX platform level)
  • The blocked player will not be able to:
    • Message the player within Destiny 2
    • Voice chat with the player within Destiny 2
    • Send invites or join the player within Destiny 2
    • The person will be removed from the player's friends list if they were on it
• The player can unblock someone by searching for them or finding them in the Roster

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Can a player play Destiny 2 on two platforms at the same time?

• No, the platform that the player was already on will be logged out and the new platform they logged into will be the one that stays connected (Example: I was playing on XBOX and then logged on to Destiny 2 on Playstation 5. My session on XBOX will get disconnected and I will connect and log in on Playstation 5)
• The error message given to the player does not explicitly state that they were disconnected because they logged in somewhere else

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How do players add friends to their friends list?

• There's a friends section in the Genshin Impact menu (which is only unlocked after the player has progressed to a certain "AR" level within the game)
• The player is able to search for another person by their UID number
• When the person is found, the player is able to request to add them as a friend
• There is also a section within the friends screen where the player can see people that have been online recently and if the player looks at the other person's details, they are able to request to add them as a friend from this screen as well

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Receiving a friend request

• There is no on screen notification for when the player receives a friend request
• However when the player goes into the menu, they will see an alert icon on the friends menu item
• Going into Friends → Add Friends the player can see the invites and respond to them
  • The player can accept the invite on any platform they sign into on their Genshin account or if their Playstation account is linked
• If accepted, there's a confirmation message that appears in the upper center area of the screen

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How does a player remove a friend from their friends list?

• Going into Friends, the player can look at someone's details and from that menu there's an option to remove the friend

Can a player remove a friend they added to their friends list on a different platform than the platform they added the friend on?

• The player can remove friends on any platform they sign into on their Genshin account or if their Playstation account is linked.
• What platform the friend was originally added on does not have any impact on this

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Join Settings

• In the Co-Op menu, the player is able to adjust their settings regarding people joining their game
  • World Permissions: Reject Join Requests
  • World Permissions: Allow Direct Join
  • World Permissions: Join After Approval (Default)

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Joining Friends

IMPORTANT Players are not able to invite their friends to play in their game, they are only able to join other games or have someone join their game

• The player can join their friend's game by going to the friends list, finding the friend and selecting "Request to Join"
• Then the friend accepts, the player will load into the friend's game
• When the player has a friend (or any other person) who wants to enter their game, they will see a join request pop up in the upper center area of the screen
• They can respond to the request and a new window will appear letting the player accept or reject the request
• If the player accepts, their friend will be loaded into their game

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Joining other players

• The player can join other players who aren't their friends by going to Co-Op Menu when they aren't already in a team.
• They are able to search for someone by UID or choose from a list of online players

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Leaving the game

• If the player wants to leave a game that they joined, they can go to Co-Op Mode in the menu, and then select "Return to Single-Player"
• It asks the player to confirm that they want to disband the team
• Upon confirmation, the player is returned to their game

When a friend leaves the player's game

• When a friend leaves the player's game there is a message that appears on the upper center part of the screen letting the player know that someone departed

When the player removes a player from their game

• The player can remove someone from their game by going to the Co-Op Mode menu and selecting the person
• They are then able to kick the person
• The player is asked to confirm that they want to kick the specific player
• Upon confirmation the person is removed from the game and there is a message in the upper center of the screen letting the player know that the person has departed

When the player is removed

• If the player is kicked from someone else's game, they are sent back to their game with a message that states "Co-Op team has been changed, returning to your own world..."

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

How do friends see the player across platforms?

The player is seen as their Genshin account name when they are playing with other players, across all platforms

Genshin Impact only has Text Chat

• The player can access text chat from the main UI
• Participants can be added to chats to create group chats
• The player can send quick pre-written messages
• The player can send emojis / stickers
• The player can send direct messages to other players
  • This can be done even if the other person is not currently online
  • It keeps the chat history
  • This can be done even if the other person is not currently in the player's game
• If the player receives a message, it will pop up on the screen

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Muting another player

• The player can mute someone else by selecting them from the friends list, or by finding the player and accessing the sub-menu that appears when a person is selected
• The player is asked to confirm that they wish to mute the other player
• Once confirmed, the player will gain a disabled / no access icon on their player listing
  • While muted, the person is unable to send the player chat messages
• The player can unmute someone through the same menus

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Blocking another player

• The player can block someone else by selecting them from the friends list, or by finding the player and accessing the sub-menu that appears when a person is selected
• The player is asked to confirm that they wish to block the other player
• Once confirmed, the person will be moved to the blocklist
  • While blocked the person will be removed from the player's friend list
  • The person will not be able to join the player's games
  • The person will not be able to send messages
  • The player will not be able to send friend invites to the player
• The player can unblock someone by accessing the blocklist from the friends list and removing the person from the blocklist

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Can a player play Genshin Impact on two platforms at the same time?

• No, the platform that the player was already on will be logged out and the new platform they logged into will be the one that stays connected (Example: I was playing on Playstation 5 and then logged on to Genshin Impact on PC (WINDOWS) Genshin Client. My session on Playstation 5 will get disconnected and I will connect and log in on PC (WINDOWS) Genshin Client)
• There will be a message letting the player know that they were disconnected because their account logged in elsewhere

This userflow, screens and experience are the same across platforms (actual controls to access the menus and take actions are different across platforms)

Does the player lose access to social features if they don't link their account?

The player can not play Genshin Impact if they do not have a Hoyoverse account. The player can not play Genshin Impact if they do not have a Hoyoverse account.