Feedback: Why No Unified Cross-Platform Friends List & Real-Time Online Status in 2026?

Dear Rare / Sea of Thieves Development Team,
I am a long-time dedicated Legend who pre-ordered Sea of Thieves on the exact day it was announced. I have since purchased and fully linked all versions (Xbox, Steam, and Battle.net) to the same Microsoft account to get the best crossplay experience.
After playing for a few years at launch, I took a few years off while new content and bug fixes were added. I was desperately hoping that a proper unified friends system would be one of the improvements during that time. Unfortunately, returning now in 2026, the issue remains:
I have friends playing on Xbox, Steam, and Battle.net.
Because the game still relies almost exclusively on the Xbox Live friends list, I cannot reliably see when my friends are online across different launchers.
Invites require extra steps and often fail to show real-time presence, making it frustrating to play together cross-platform.
The original Xbox + Microsoft PC design made sense in 2018. But with Steam and Battle.net support now long established, this limitation feels outdated.
My question is: Is there a meaningful technical, partnership, business, or infrastructure reason why a true unified in-game friends system — with native friends lists and real-time online status from Steam, Battle.net, and Xbox — has not been added yet?
If feasible, please prioritize implementing native cross-launcher friend integration, including real-time status, easy invites, and in-game name/tag searching. This would remove a major barrier, greatly improve retention for returning players like me, and make the crossplay experience truly seamless.
I truly love Sea of Thieves and want to keep sailing with my full crew for years to come. Understanding any challenges and seeing this quality-of-life improvement would mean a lot.
Thank you for your time and continued work on the game.
Sincerely,
[Lolthissia
Day-One Pirate Pal | Pre-order Supporter