Fix: Black Ops 3 Not Able to join Friends

2015’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III is one of the popular first-person shooter games by Treyarch and Activision. We take a deep dive, it’s the twelfth entry in the CoD lineup and a sequel to the 2012’s version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Although the title is doing well in the gaming community, there are some issues present that bother players a lot. Meanwhile, several reports are claiming that the Call of Duty Black Ops 3 is Not Able to Join Friends online or party.

Whenever Black Ops III players try to get into the party, they receive the “Failed to Join Party. Unable to join party. (3)” error message appears most of the time. This specific error message occurs on several platforms like PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. It prevents players from getting into multiplayer mode. Well, the chances are high that somehow conflicts with the game lobby, unstable or poor internet connection, temporary glitches with the network, game account login-related issues, etc, causing this.

1. Reboot the PC or Console

First of all, you can reboot the PC or console manually to ensure there is no issue with the temporary system glitch. Just go to the home screen on the device and open the Power menu then hit Restart. For consoles, long-press the Power button to reboot.

2. Check the Internet Connection

You should also check for the internet connection at your end to ensure there is no issue with the networking glitch or ping delay. A poor or unstable internet connection can trouble you a lot while connecting to online multiplayer games as well as crossplay mode. If you’re using a wireless connection, try switching to a wired one or vice versa to cross-check the issue. You can also try restarting the Wi-Fi router that you’re using to refresh the connectivity.

3. Power Cycle the Wi-Fi Router

Make sure to perform a power cycle method on your Wi-Fi router to avoid any kind of temporary glitches or connectivity issues whatsoever. You can follow the steps below to do so.

Power Off your Wi-Fi router first.
Then unplug the power adapter/cable from the router as well as the power source.
Now, wait for a couple of seconds and then connect the power cable again.
Finally, you can Power On the router to check for the issue.

4. Check the Activision Online Services Status

It’s also suggested to check for the Activision Online Services Status here to ensure there is no issue with the game servers. If somehow the game servers are going through some issues or are completely down then make sure to wait for a couple of hours and then try again. At the time of writing this article, Black Ops III online services are operational and doing well.

5. Check for Black Ops 3 Updates

Sometimes an outdated game version can trouble you a lot when it comes to connecting to the servers or joining the crossplay friends list. You can follow the steps below to keep the game up-to-date according to the device.

For Battle.net: (PC)

Open the Battle.net desktop app on your PC.
Now, click on the COD: Black Ops III game.
Click on the cogwheel icon (settings) next to the Play button.
Finally, select Check for Updates and wait for the process to be completed.
If there is an update available, make sure to download and install the game update.

For Steam: (PC)

Open Steam > Go to Library.
Click on COD: Black Ops III from the left pane.
Steam will automatically search for the available update.
If there is an update available, click on Update.
Make sure to wait for some time until the update completes.
Once done, ensure to reboot the PC to apply changes.

For PlayStation:

Turn On your PS4/PS5 console > Go to the Home screen.
Now, navigate to the main menu on top.
Head over to the Games tab.
Scroll down to Call of Duty: Black Ops III and highlight it.
Press the Options button on your controller.
Finally, choose to Check for Update from the drop-down menu.

For Xbox:

Make sure to turn on your Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S gaming console.
Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the menu.
Now, scroll down to the right > Select Settings.
Scroll down until you see Updates & downloads.
From the next page, select Keep my console up to date and Keep my games & games up to date to enable the checkbox.

6. Repair the Game Files

Mostly corrupted or missing game files on your computer won’t gonna notify you but whenever you try launching the game, it’ll crash or go through possible issues in the multiplayer mode. In that case, you should follow the steps below to easily verify and repair the installed game files on the PC to avoid corrupted or missing game files.

For Battle.net:

Open the Battle.net client on your computer.
Head over to the library > Click on COD Black Ops 3.
Click on Options > Select Scan and Repair > Choose to Start Scan.
Wait for the process to get completed and then you’ll be able to play the game properly.
Make sure to reboot the client to apply changes immediately.

For Steam:

Launch Steam > Click on Library.
Right-click on COD Black Ops 3 from the list of installed games.
Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.
Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
Once done, just restart your computer.

7. Try Forwarding Call of Duty Crossplay Port

You can also try port forwarding COD Black Ops III crossplay on your router manually by following the steps below to avoid connectivity-related issues.

Log into your Wi-Fi router’s admin dashboard via the browser.
Now, go to the Port Forwarding option > Type the Xbox IP address in the IP address bar.
You’ll find the Xbox IP address in the Xbox Network Settings menu.
Then input the TCP and UDP ports as follows.

TCP: 3074
UDP: 27014-27050

Finally, save the changes and restart your router.

8. Try Disabling Crossplay

One of the important steps also to try disabling and enabling back the crossplay feature on your Call of Duty Black Ops III game to ensure there is no issue with the ‘Failed Fetching Crossplay Friends List’ error further. You can follow the steps below to do so:

For PlayStation:

Launch Black Ops III on PS4/PS5.
Press the Options button on your connected PlayStation controller.
Now, go to the Settings menu > Scroll down to Account and Network.
Make sure to Turn Off the Crossplay feature.
Wait for some time and then Turn it On.

For Xbox:

Turn on your Xbox console > Navigate to General Settings.
Select Online safety and family.
Go to Privacy and Online Safety > Select Xbox Privacy.
Visit View Details and Customize.
Choose Communication and Multiplayer.
You’ll have to select Cross-network play > Just turn it OFF and wait for a minute.
Then Turn Crossplay On again and restart the game to check for the issue.

For PC:

Open the COD Black Ops III game > Click on the Settings menu from the top-right side.
Now, select the Account & Network tab > Head over to Activision Account.
Set the Crossplay toggle to Disabled.

9. Delete the Friend from the list and Retry

Another thing you can do is just delete the friend from the friend list and try inviting or joining again. This particular method might help you in fixing this issue completely.

Launch the COD Black Ops III game.
Go to the Social menu of your Call of Duty: Black Ops III account.
Now, select the friends with whom you’re having crossplay issues.
Then choose the Profile and hit Delete.
Make sure to add the deleted friends again using their Activision account IDs.
Finally, reboot the game and check for the issue.

Additionally, you can send a random friend request to a player on a different platform and ask the person to accept the request one time to cross-check if the crossplay friends list working or not. You can follow the steps below to do so:

Open the Black Ops III game > Go to the game’s social menu.
Select the Add Friend option > Now, input the player’s username or gamertag then send the friend request.
It’ll forcefully establish a connection to the crossplay servers of the game and forcefully update the friend’s list.
If the connection was successful, you won’t receive the ‘Failed Fetching Crossplay Friends List’ error anymore.
Once done, it’s better to restart the game to change effects immediately.

10. Try Creating a Party in Warzone

If you’re still unable to join your friends in Call of Duty Black Ops III after re-adding them, don’t lose hope. Because some reports did claim that creating a party in COD Warzone and then going back to the Black Ops III game might come in handy to start using party. So, you can try performing the same method.

11. Adjust Party Settings in COD Black Ops III

Last but not the least, if none of the methods did work for you then make sure to cross-check whether the party settings in the COD Black Ops III game is configured properly or not. You should try resetting the party size to limit friends in the list. To do that:

Launch the COD Black Ops III game > Go to Social.
Select Manage Party > Here you’ll have to set the party size to 18 friends or less.
You should also cross-check if the party is set to open/friends only.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. Feel free to ask in the comment below for further queries.

Fix: Black Ops 3 Not Able to join Friends