Playing Together, but Not the Same Game? Bus Simulator 27 Confirms Crossplay – Mods Are Only Mentioned for PC

Bus Simulator 27 is supposed to bring us together without platform boundaries for the first time. The official Steam page lists cooperative multiplayer for up to four people and explicitly advertises full crossplay. The PlayStation Store also states that we can play together regardless of platform, coordinate routes and manage our bus fleet. When Bus Simulator 27 launches for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on 8 September 2026, nobody should be excluded from our group simply because they have the wrong box under their television.

That is a significant leap from its predecessor. For Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop, Astragon only confirmed crossplay between the different PC versions on Steam, the Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store and at retail. According to its current product description, Bus Simulator 27 now opens the shared operation across PC and consoles. Up to four players can serve routes together and work on the same company.

The question mark begins in the very next sentence. The official BS27 website explicitly says that we can expand Bus Simulator 27 through Mod.io mods on PC. The Epic Games Store feature list uses the same wording: full crossplay across all platforms, modding with Mod.io on PC. There is currently no corresponding confirmation of mods for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S on those pages.

That does not automatically mean console players will never receive any mods at all. Nor does it confirm that every PC modification will block crossplay. The officially known position is narrower: Crossplay has been announced for all three platform families, while modding is so far explicitly only mentioned for PC. The product pages do not yet explain how the two systems work together.

That creates the real multiplayer question. Let us imagine that we own a modded bus or other additional content on PC and use it to open a shared session. What does our friend on PS5 see if that file is not available on their platform? Can they still join? Is the mod automatically disabled? Does the PC player first have to return to the unmodified base game? Or will there be separate sessions for crossplay and modded PC games?

All of these are currently possible models, not confirmed features. The game could technically restrict cross-platform sessions to official content. It could disable incompatible mods when someone joins or only open modded sessions to players who own the same content. Purely local changes that only affect a player’s own presentation could theoretically be treated differently from an additional bus or piece of game content that every participant would need to load. Which solution Simteract and Astragon will actually choose remains unknown.

The distinction is therefore important: Full crossplay promises that PC, PlayStation and Xbox players can fundamentally enter multiplayer together. It does not automatically promise that every freely modified PC version will remain compatible with every console edition. Crossplay connects our platforms – but mods can change the data we share.

This is particularly relevant for Bus Simulator 27 because we will not simply be driving on the same road by coincidence in co-op. We are supposed to coordinate routes, manage the fleet together and grow our company. As soon as modded content becomes part of that operation, the game must decide how a player without that file can handle it. A clean separation would be crucial, particularly for saved companies and shared vehicles.

At least the common foundation is substantial: More than 45 licensed buses from 13 manufacturers are due to be included in the game. Coaches are also joining the series for the first time. We therefore will not necessarily depend on mods for a varied crossplay evening. In the long term, however, the PC community could still alter its version far more extensively through Mod.io while console players remain with officially released content – unless platform support is expanded later.

That would not contradict the announced crossplay, but it would create a noticeable difference between the versions. We could all drive together in the unmodified game. As soon as a PC player expands their installation, the large shared bus world could become a smaller PC group again. That is why it should be made clear before release which mods are permitted in crossplay and how the game reacts to missing content.

Bus Simulator 27 carries the promise that no one is left behind. For the base game, that is a powerful statement. Whether it still applies when the first Mod.io content appears on PC is currently perhaps the most important unanswered multiplayer question. Crossplay only becomes truly straightforward when we do not have to wonder before starting together whether everyone has actually loaded the same game.