How to play with friends in Escape from Tarkov

Learn how to create lobbies and play with friends in Escape from Tarkov so you can Raid together.

Jumping into a raid in Escape from Tarkov can be terrifying and will probably result in your death for the first few games. Want to make that death less painful? Bring a friend! It’s not immediately obvious how to partner up but thankfully, learning how to play with friends in Escape from Tarkov won’t take long at all. Just read the guide below!

How to play with friends in Escape from Tarkov

How to play with friends in Escape from Tarkov
Learn how to play with friends in Escape from Tarkov and you'll never have to explore these creepy locations alone again.
© Battlestate Games

Before you can play with your friends in Escape from Tarkov, you first need to add them in-game. Do this by clicking the Messenger tab along the bottom bar of the screen on the main menu. This will open a new menu, and on the top right corner of that will be a Friends button. Click this to open the Friends menu, where you can view any added friends or pending requests. Use the search bar to find your friends’ accounts and send them invites.

With all your friends added, it’s time to join a game and play together together. You all need to start the game, select your PMC, choose the same map and then pick the same time phase. These steps are crucial as unless you are looking for the same map and time phase, you won’t be able to add each other. Next, have everyone pick the same entrance point on the map, hit next going through your loadout until you reach the “Prepare For Escape” screen.

 You should see your character on the left, and a list of names on the right. If you’ve completed the steps above correctly, your friends should start appearing in the list of names on the right. It may take some time for them all to appear. When they do, right-click on their name and click “Invite to Group”. The maximum squad size in Escape from Tarkov is five, so you won’t be able to play with more friends than that.

Whoever sent out the invites will be the party leader, and it’s up to them to ready up once your group is all together. You’ll then load into the game and all spawn in roughly the same area. Don’t forget that there are no friend identifications in Tarkov, so you need to communicate to avoid accidentally shooting one another. It's possible to kill and take your friends' loot, so be sure to only invite those you trust to your group.

Now that you know how to play with friends in Escape from Tarkov, you’re ready to take your squad to the server. Be sure you’ve learned how to extract first so you don’t waste all of the equipment you bring in with you!

Associate Editor

Henry Stenhouse serves an eternal punishment as the Associate Editor of AllGamers. He spent his younger life studying the laws of physics, even going so far as to complete a PhD in the subject before video games stole his soul. Confess your love of Super Smash Bros. via email at henry@moonrock.biz, or catch him on Twitter.

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