How to play with friends and make a group - New World

Learn how to play with friends in New World, add them to your friends list, find them out in the wild, and group up for some adventures.

1

Playing with friends in New World is all part of the joy of adventuring. If you want to start playing together, you will first need to add them, which is a relatively straightforward process with only a few limitations. Then there’s the trouble of actually finding them in-game and creating a group to go adventuring together.

Play with friends – New World

new world add friend play with friends
Use the Social tab to search for and add your friends. This is the first step to playing with them.

Firstly, to play with friends in New World you must be in the same world. The friends list does not span worlds, World Sets (read what World Sets are here), or servers. This means if you have friends playing on the other side of the world, in another server, you won’t be able to add them to your list.

To add a friend in New World, follows these steps:

  1. Press Esc while logged in to your world
  2. Click the Online icon in the top-left to open the Social tab
  3. Type your friend’s character name into the search bar
  4. Mouse-over your friend’s name and in the pop-out, click “Add Friend

Your friend will receive the friend request, which can be accepted by pressing F1 when the notification is on-screen or by finding the request under Friend Invites in the Social section.

How to find your friends

new world find friends
Your friends may start in one of four starting areas in New World.

Just because you’ve added your friends, doesn’t mean they’re going to be in the same location as you. It certainly doesn’t mean they’ll be easy to find. There are several starting locations in New World, which means you may need to do a bit of walking to find your buddy.

For example, you might start in the Everfall region while a mate starts in Windsward. To actually find each other, you can choose a location on the map to meet and head there. Alternatively, if you’ve explore a lot of regions, you might choose to fast travel to them. But, one of the best ways to find your friend is to make a group.

How to make a group

new world make group
Making a group with your friends will let you see each other on the map.

Just because you’re not close to your friend in-game doesn’t mean you can’t join a group together. In fact, this may actually help you meet up and go on an adventure. To start a group, follow these steps:

  1. Press Esc while logged in to your world
  2. Click the Online icon to open the Social tab
  3. Mouseover your friend’s name and click “Invite to Group

Your friend will receive the group invite, which can be accepted by pressing F1 while the notification is still visible. If the notification disappears, it can be found under Group Invites in the Social tab.

When you’re in the same group as your friend, you will be able to see them on the map. This will also let you know how far away they are from you. This may make it easier for you to find your friend and meet up in-game for some adventures.


New World makes it really easy to play with your friends. The in-game social function lets you find your friends, add them to your friend list, and group up for a whole lot of adventuring. Be sure to check out the Shacknews New World page for our coverage of Amazon Games’ first triple-A title.

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler 

Filed Under
From The Chatty
Hello, Meet Lola