Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games to Play Right Now

Gears 5

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

Gears of War continues to be a tentpole IP for Microsoft and their Xbox brand. The most recent game in the long-running third-person cover shooter, Gears 5, also continues the tradition of co-op gameplay. What is especially nice is that Gears 5 supports a variety of 3 player multiplayer modes, making it an excellent game to kick off this list of the best 3 player games on the Xbox Series X | S.

The campaign does support a form of 3 player content as two players can control the two squad members while another player can control Jack and play in more of a support role offline or online. It’s perfect if you have someone that isn’t a big gamer.

If you don’t mind going online, you can also play in two different types of 3 player co-op modes either in the 3 player Escape mode where players work together to get through timed, mission-like challenges; and also the classic horde mode where you’ll need to work together as a team to survive hordes of enemies.

Borderlands 3

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

One of the best modern co-op franchises, Borderlands 3 offers players a very deep co-op experience that can be played 3 player as long as you don’t mind playing online. Borderlands 3 also offers two-player splitscreen local co-op, and you can play through the entire game locally this way.

However, the online play opens up the party to more people, and you can do anything in the game with 3 players. This includes playing the entire campaign and post-game challenge modes.

Borderlands 3 is a blast and offers four different classes to choose from that each has up to four different skill trees that you can mix and match abilities from. These abilities combined with the never-ending amount of wild weapons and loot you’ll discover while playing will allow you and your friends to create characters that feel totally unique.

Grounded

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

Grounded kind of came out of nowhere from developer Obsidian and offers up a really unique premise for a survival game. You’re a kid that has been shrunk down, and you need to build up a base and survive against everyday bugs that are suddenly extremely threatening now that you’re the little one in the equation.

You’ll need to gather resources, cook food, make weapons, and construct a base in order to cut it in the world of Grounded. The great part, obviously since it’s in this article, is that Grounded can be played with 3 players online. So you and two other friends can work together to survive in this unique world.

Rocket League

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

Rocket League, without a doubt, has incredible staying power. It’s unlikely that anyone reading this hasn’t at least heard of Rocket League at this point, but just in case you haven’t, allow us to break it down.

Rocket League is a unique kind of soccer game that is played with race cars instead of people. So you control your own Hot Wheels-like car, while together with up to 3 players to navigate a field and score goals against a team of other human players trying to do the same against you. You need to master offense, defense, and ball-handling skills to get consistent victory in Rocket League.

One of the premiere online-ranked modes in Rocket League is trios, so you can totally play this online with 3 players and work your way up the competitive Rocket League ladder, or just play for fun online.

Destiny 2

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

If I got paid for how many times people have declared Destiny “dead” or was forced to hear about how X game is going to be a “Destiny-killer,” I’d be a rich man by now. That’s because Destiny 2 is never going to die until Bungie itself decides it wants to kill it off, and there will never be a Destiny-killer. Every game that has tried to go head-on with Destiny has failed.

So if you like looter-shooters, it’s best to just get in on the Destiny experience rather than fight against it. This is because Destiny 2, in addition to being a fantastic game that looks and plays great, is also extremely well-supported by Bungie. It will be for at least the next three years or so, and possibly much longer.

So you and two friends have plenty of time to play through the campaign, get some gear together, take on the challenging 3 player nightfall strike activities, and maybe even team up with another 3 players and take on the six-person raids.

Diablo 3

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

If you’re looking for something that you can play 3 players both offline and online, allow me to point you in the direction of Diablo 3, the most recent game in the classic hack and slash dungeon looter. Diablo III, while a bit old at this point, is still a quality co-op game that has a ton of content to go through.

There’s a lengthy campaign that can be played with 3 players online or offline. Then, after completing the game, you can go ahead and play through the post-game adventure mode where you will complete challenges to try to earn better gear and progress through challenging Rift content. Many players will crank the difficulty to the highest they can handle for a crack at better loot and to push their character builds to the test.

If you enjoy Diablo 3, which is available on pretty much everything at this point, you can look forward to Diablo 2: Resurrected and Diablo 4 which are in development at the time of this writing.

Sea of Thieves

Best 3 Player Xbox Series X Games (2021)

Sea of Thieves is another online game that can be played single-player or with others, but it really thrives when you’re working together with a crew of 3 or 4 players. It’s a game where you roleplay as a pirate. You and your buddies will sail the seas in search of buried treasure, dangerous skeletal foes, and other mysterious artifacts in pursuit of fame and riches.

Along the way, though, you may encounter other real-life player pirates that may, or may not be friendly. When things go south, you’ll want a crew at your side to defend your ship and your loot from pirates that will want to part you from it… forcefully.

Plus, it’s just one of those games that can be a bit grindy by yourself but is far more enjoyable when you’re screwing around with close friends; singing sea shanties, and playing the hurdy-gurdy for each other. Arr… the feels.

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