Only One Person Has To Buy Split Fiction To Enable Cross-Play With Friends, Here’s How

Interested in trying out the newest co-op adventure from Hazelight Studios but want to keep it cost-friendly? Fortunately, Split Fiction makes it extremely easy to save money and still enjoy what GameSpot has named one of the best games of 2025 so far, earning a rare 10 in our Split Fiction review.

Hazelight Studios and EA have recently revealed information about how Split Fiction’s Friend’s Pass and cross-play between different platforms work. Turns out, it’s both easy to set up and a good deal.

Similar to Hazelight’s previous co-op games like It Takes Two and A Way Out, Split Fiction is a mandatory co-op game. Thankfully, however, all three of these games offer a Friend’s Pass. This allows players who buy the game to connect with someone who doesn’t have a copy, and play through it in its entirety. But this time, Split Fiction’s version has some expanded features that weren’t in those previous games, such as cross-platform play and a free demo.

How does Split Fiction’s Friend’s Pass work?

The first step to enabling online co-op is that one person has to own the game either physically or digitally. The next step is to have a buddy download Split Fiction’s Friend’s Pass on their chosen platform–whether it be PC, PlayStation, or Xbox–through their respective digital storefronts. Just be aware that if you and your friend are playing on different platforms, for example PC and PlayStation, both of you need an EA account (which is free to sign up for).

Next, the person who owns Split Fiction should send an in-game invite to their friend, who then accepts the invite. Once that step is completed, both players can play through the entire game together.

Another aspect to note is that in It Takes Two and A Way Out, the player who was on the Friend’s Pass version did not unlock Trophies or Achievements on their platform, while the one who owned the game did. At least in A Way Out, if the player on the Friend’s Pass decides to purchase the full game later on, they will retroactively earn the Trophies and Achievements they would have unlocked while on the pass. It’s unknown whether this is the case for Split Fiction.

Split Fiction Free Trial

What happens if neither of you own the game? No problem. The Friend’s Pass also offers a free trial for both players that includes the opening stages of Split Fiction. Both players will need to download the Friend’s Pass version of the game to start, but rest assured that progress does carry over if either of you chooses to purchase the full game.

How does cross-play in Split Fiction work?

It Takes Two and A Way Out didn’t have cross-play, meaning that both players had to be on the same platform in order to play with each other. However, It Takes Two had cross-gen play, meaning that PS4 and PS5 players and Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players could play with each other as long as they were on the same platform family.

Split Fiction is only on current-gen consoles, so cross-gen play doesn’t exist. However, Split Fiction now offers cross-play, meaning that PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S players can all play together. Cross-play requires both players to sign up for separate EA accounts each, which you can make for free.

Hazelight also has a Discord server with a channel called “Looking for Player” for those who want to play Split Fiction with but don’t have anyone available to arrange game sessions.

Split Fiction launches on March 6 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. In GameSpot’s review of the upcoming co-op adventure game, we wrote that, “Split Fiction is a marvelous game that sets a new benchmark not only for Hazelight, but for co-op experiences as a whole.”

In other related news, director Josef Fares recently shared his thoughts on AI, and also said that Hazelight Studios will never make a live-service game.