How Co-Op in ‘Far Cry 5’ Works

Jeremy Ray
Games Xbox
Games Xbox PlayStation PC Gaming

For those about to enter the land of Hope County, there are some important facts you need to know about Far Cry 5 cooperative gameplay with a friend.

Nearly all of Far Cry 5 is available to play in co-op. Aside from a bit at the beginning, and a bit at the end, you’re pretty much looking at the whole game that you can experience with a buddy.

But if you were to actually jump in and do that, you might be in for a rude surprise. Despite playing through the game as a team, only one player will have that persistent progress be recorded.

That’s right — one player gets to take all the credit for those quests being completed, while the other will have a game world that never changes.

It’s the host who gets to take all the spoils, and the player joining that game is the one who’s left wanting. Should that joining player go back to their own game, they’ll find themselves right back at zero.

This is because the joining player is not technically a “Player 2” in the eyes of Far Cry 5 multiplayer. Instead, they’re just another member of the “guns for hire” system that lets you recruit rebellious Hope County citizens and animals into your squad.

You can have multiple people following you at once. And while the AI guns for hire have limitations, your co-op buddy is able to do more with you, such as flying a plane.

There’s some fun to be had in Far Cry 5 co-op, that’s for sure. We didn’t think too highly of the game in general, but if you’re playing with a friend, perhaps working your way through the to-do list will be more bearable. It’s just a shame you’ll have to choose which one of you gets the persistent rewards for the cooperative play both of you contributed to.

Jeremy Ray
Decade-long games critic and esports aficionado. Started in competitive Counter-Strike, then moved into broadcast, online, print and interpretative pantomime. You merely adopted the lag. I was born in it.