Cannot Join Friends: Lobby & Black Screen Fixes

What the Patches Changed

• Patch 1.0.4: lobbies expanded up to 8 players and an attempted fix for the lobby black screen.
• Patch 1.0.5: added private lobby controls and session-type options (public friends-only, etc.).
• Design note: the Steam page still markets the co-op campaign as 1-4 anglers — the 8-player cap applies to lobby size, not balanced party content.

The Join Checklist (Do This in Order)

1. Fully close and relaunch the game on every machine — not just the joining player.
2. Confirm identical versions: host and guest must be on the same patch number shown on the title screen.
3. Host creates the lobby first with the intended session type and privacy, then sends a fresh invite.
4. Join from the invite itself, not from a stale lobby code saved earlier in the session.

Black or Gray Screen on Join

The classic failure: you accept an invite, the screen dims, and nothing loads. The session is stuck in a half-joined state. Leave the failed session and have the host recreate the lobby — spamming rejoin on a dead session wedges it further. If it recurs, swap who hosts; NAT configurations differ and one player is often a better host than the other. A restart of the Steam client itself fixes the remaining cases.

Player Count & Session Types

Since Patch 1.0.4 a lobby holds up to 8 players; boss HP scaling tops out at the classic 4-angler tier (2.5x). If you cannot see a friend's lobby at all, check the privacy setting added in 1.0.5 — private lobbies are invite-only and invisible to quick-join. Our co-op guide covers roles, scaling, and loot sharing in detail.

Still Failing?

Version mismatch after a fresh patch is the top cause — Steam sometimes defers client updates while the host already patched. Restart Steam completely, verify game files, and compare the build number on both title screens before blaming your connection. Gear lost during a disconnect crash? Follow the items disappeared recovery order before saving again.