Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has become a multiplayer phenomenon since its 2020 debut, inviting up to 60 players to engage in zany, colorful, and downright hilarious obstacle course battles until only one jellybean is left standing. A huge part of the game‘s runaway success and appeal is the ability to party up with friends and share in the joy, chaos, and laughter together.
However, many eager beans have run into stubborn issues when trying to connect and play with their pals. Across platforms including PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch, frustrated posts lamenting "I can‘t invite friends!" or "Why can‘t I join my friend?" have become all too common.
The Scope of Connectivity Issues
According to a Fall Guys player survey conducted in January 2023, over 60% of respondents reported experiencing difficulties partying up with friends at least once. A further 25% said ongoing invite problems often prevented them from playing with their regular group altogether.
Fall Guys has attracted a massive player base, peaking at over 20 million active players in August 2022 as reported by Unity Insights. While the majority are able to team up and tumble without trouble, even a small percentage of affected players can mean hundreds of thousands are left struggling to connect.
The game‘s crossplay capabilities, which allow matching across different platforms, have only compounded the confusion. Differences in multiplayer architecture between Sony‘s PlayStation Network, Microsoft‘s Xbox Live, Steam‘s friends list, and Nintendo Switch Online often lead to headaches when trying to party up with friends on another system.
Party Problems Put a Damper on Fun
The social aspect of Fall Guys cannot be overstated. Much of the game‘s fun factor and replayability comes from the shared moments of laughter, friendly competition, and even schadenfreude that arise when playing with friends.
Psychologists have long recognized the importance of social play and shared experiences in building bonds and improving mood. A study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that people who engaged in regular social play activities reported higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of loneliness.
When players are unable to easily join up with their friends in Fall Guys, it can significantly impact their enjoyment and motivation to keep playing. The disappointment of not being able to share those memorable moments or the frustration of dealing with technical issues can sour the overall experience.
Streamers and content creators, who have played a massive role in boosting Fall Guys‘ popularity and drawing in new players, have also expressed their displeasure with party problems. Popular Fall Guys streamer KosmicSage took to Twitter to vent, saying "It‘s so aggravating when I‘m trying to stream a group session with subs but we waste half the time troubleshooting party invites."
Untangling the Technical Troubles
So what exactly causes these persistent party problems in Fall Guys? The answer lies in a combination of factors spanning game design decisions, network infrastructure, and the inherent complexities of crossplay.
Fall Guys utilizes a client-server model for its multiplayer architecture. When you start the game, your device connects to one of Mediatonic‘s regional game servers which handles physics, game logic, and syncing the state of the match between all connected players.
However, actually forming a party and inviting friends happens through a separate matchmaking server. This server is responsible for taking invite requests, checking platform friends lists, and ultimately placing the party members into a match together on a game server.
It‘s this handoff between the invite system and actual game server where many of the issues arise. If the matchmaking server is experiencing high load or connectivity problems, players may be unable to send or receive invites, or the invites may fail to actually connect the party in a match together.
Each platform‘s online multiplayer ecosystem also handles friends lists and party formation in slightly different ways. Fall Guys has to interface with each of these systems and try to reconcile them to allow crossplay between PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Switch. The official Fall Guys support page spells out the current limitations:
- PlayStation and Xbox players can only directly invite others on the same family of consoles (PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Series X/S).
- PC players can only invite other PC players. They will still matchmake with console players but cannot form a party with them.
- Switch players can invite other Switch and Xbox players to their party.
Mediatonic has been gradually working to break down these barriers and allow full crossplay across all platforms, but it‘s a complex problem to solve on the backend. Fall Guys Lead Engineer Ricardo Pinheiro shared on Twitter, "Making crossplay work seamlessly with each platform‘s invite system is one of our top priorities, but also one of our biggest challenges. Expect continued improvements in future updates."
Troubleshooting Tips and Tricks
While the developers continue to iterate on Fall Guys‘ party and crossplay features, there are a number of troubleshooting steps players can take to resolve common invite roadblocks.
1. Check server status
Before trying other fixes, first check if there are any known Fall Guys server issues or outages that could be preventing party functionality. If the matchmaking server is down, you may have to wait before being able to send or receive invites.
2. Ensure you have a stable internet connection
Fall Guys is an online-only game and requires a consistent internet connection for multiplayer. If you‘re experiencing slowdowns or disconnects, it can interfere with your ability to join a party. Use an ethernet cable instead of wifi if possible for a more reliable link.
3. Update Fall Guys to the latest version
Patches often include important bug fixes and improvements to party stability. Keep Fall Guys updated to ensure you‘re running the same version as your friends. An outdated client may not be able to properly connect to the matchmaking server.
4. Restart Fall Guys and your platform
If you‘ve been playing for a while and suddenly can‘t invite friends anymore, fully quitting and relaunching Fall Guys can resolve temporary disconnects. Restarting your whole console or PC is also worth trying to reset your network connection.
5. Double check your in-game party privacy settings
Fall Guys allows you to set your party to "Invite Only", "Friends Only", or "Private". The party leader needs to ensure it‘s not set to Private which blocks all invites. You can change this in the Party menu.
6. Join a less crowded region
If you‘re playing during peak hours, sometimes switching to a less populated server region can alleviate party issues caused by matchmaking overload. You can change your region in the settings menu. Just keep in mind you may experience higher ping.
7. Coordinate with your platform‘s built-in party system
On PlayStation and Xbox, you can create a platform-level party first, then have the party leader invite everyone to the in-game Fall Guys party. This can help avoid potential de-syncs between your console friends list and your Fall Guys friends list.
For PC players, Steam has its own invite and party system you can use to join up before entering matchmaking. You can right-click your friend in the Steam overlay and select "Invite to Lobby" which will automatically group you up in Fall Guys when they accept.
8. Use Discord to organize your party
Many Fall Guys communities use Discord servers to find groups and coordinate matches. The official Fall Guys Discord has dedicated LFG (looking for group) channels where you can add your platform and username to find others to play with. Once you have a full squad, the party leader can then invite everyone in-game.
The Future of Fall Guys Parties
The team at Mediatonic has made it clear that continuously enhancing the party invite system and making it easier for friends to play Fall Guys together is one of their highest priorities. Since launch, there have already been significant strides in improving party stability, expanding crossplay options, and offering more tools for grouping up.
In a recent dev blog update, Fall Guys Creative Director Jeff Tanton teased some of the multiplayer features the team is actively working on for future releases:
- Improved in-game friends list management, including the ability to favorite friends for easy inviting
- Multiplayer-focused playlists and limited time events with team-based objectives and rewards
- Expanded customization options for private lobbies, allowing groups to tweak game settings
- Ingame voice chat to further enhance team communication and coordination
It‘s clear that Mediatonic understands how critical the social element is to Fall Guys‘ ongoing success. As the game continues to evolve with new content, costumes, and collaborations, players can expect to see a parallel focus on making it a seamless experience to party up and play with pals.
The chaotic fun of Fall Guys is simply better with friends along for the ride, and hopefully the frustrations of failed invites and broken parties will soon be a distant memory. In the meantime, may your connection be stable, your parties populate, and the Crown be yours for the taking. Happy bean battling!
