How to Fix Outriders “Internet Connection Error” on PC and Consoles?

Recently, Users reported that they are facing the infamous ‘Internet Connection Error – Could not connect to Outriders servers‘ error. Even months later after the original release, this error is still a common occurrence for  PC, Playstation, and Xbox players.

After investigating this particular issue, it turns out that there are several different underlying scenarios that might force the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers’ error to appear when you’re launching the game on your console.

Here’s a shortlist of potential culprits that might be responsible for this particular issue:

Now that you are familiar with every potential scenario that might be causing this issue, let’s go over a few recommended methods that will allow you to identify and fix the issue (in situations where the problem is beyond your control).

Check for an ongoing server issue

Before you actually begin troubleshooting for a local issue, our recommendation is to start by investigating if the issue is not being facilitated by a server issue. It’s not uncommon (at least with Outriders) to see the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers’ error popping up whenever there’s a widespread issue affecting users on multiple platforms.

If you’re actually dealing with a widespread issue, none of the potential fixes featured in this article will be effective – In this case, your only choice is to wait for the involved developers (People can fly) to fix their server issue.

To check either you’re dealing with a server issue, start by checking the official status page of Outriders.

Once you’re inside, expand the drop-down menus of both Outriders and Square Enix Membership and check if there’s any kind of issue currently reported.

If the status page reports an issue with the core components or the multiplayer functionality, you can also use a service like DownDetector to figure out if other users attempting to play the game on the same problem are currently reporting the same kind of issue.

If both of these pages report some kind of server issue with Outriders, it’s also worth checking out the official Twitter page of Outriders — whenever they face a big issue where an entire platform is affected, they’ll post instructions on mitigating it on their official Twitter account.

If you found evidence of an ongoing server issue, the bad news is the problem is entirely beyond your control. All you can do at this point is wait for the developers to fix this issue server-side.

On the other hand, if you went through all this trouble and you didn’t manage to find any evidence of a server issue, move down to the next potential fix below and start troubleshooting for an issue that is rooted locally.

Power Cycle your console (if applicable)

In case you’re encountering this issue on a last-gen console (Xbox One, Playstation 4) or next-gen (Xbox Series, Playstation 5), the first thing you should do is go for a power cycling procedure.

This operation will end up clearing any temporary files related to the game with the potential of triggering the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers‘ error.

If you find yourself in this particular scenario and you’re attempting to play the game from a Playstation or Xbox console, triggering a power cycle procedure should fix the issue for you.

But keep in mind that depending on the console that you’re using, the operation will be a little different. To tackle this issue, we’ve created two different sub-guides that will show you how to do this on both Xbox and Playstation consoles.

Power-cycling Xbox consoles

Note: These instructions will work for Xbox One and Xbox Series S / X.

1. First things first, ensure that your Xbox One or Xbox Series S / X console is powered on and not running anything (game or media application) in the background.
2. Next, press and hold the power button (on your console, not the controller) and keep it pressed for about 10 seconds (until you can hear the fans turning off).

   

3. After the console is turned off completely, go ahead and physically unplug the power cord from the outlet and wait for a full minute.

   

   Important: This is an essential step since it gives the power capacitors enough time to drain themselves and eliminate any cached data stored in between restarts.

4. Once the time period passed, re-connect the power cord and start your Xbox console normally.

   

   Note: If the power-cycling operation has been successful, you will see the longer startup animation sequence during the next boot – take it as confirmation that the operation has been successful.

5. After the next startup is complete, launch Outriders once again and see if the operation has been successful.

Power-cycling PlayStation consoles

Note: These instructions will work for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 consoles.

1. Ensure that your Playstation 4 or Playstation 5 console is powered on and not actively running a game or application in the background.
2. Press and hold on the power button (on your console) and keep it pressed for about 5 seconds or until you hear a short beep followed by the turning off of the console fans.

   

   Note: If you’re using a Playstation 5, don’t confuse the power button with the button dedicated to the optical drive.

3. Once the console is turned off and you can’t hear any signs of life from it any longer, disconnect the power code and wait for a full minute to clear the power capacitors.
   Note: This step is super important since this is what will actually determine your system to let go of the temporary files maintained in between startups.
4. After the time period has passed, boot your PlayStation console normally and check to see if you are now able to boot Outriders normally.

If you already went through the trouble of power-cycling your console and the problem is still not fixed, move down to the next methods below for two additional ways of bypassing the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers’ error.

Link Steam account with Square Enix (PC Only)

If you’re attempting to play the game on PC after getting it via Steam (and you previously confirmed that there isn’t an ongoing server issue affecting other users), the problem is most likely occurring because you’re using a Steam account that is not synced with Square Enix.

A lot of users are reporting this to be the main cause for receiving the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers‘ error on PC, but the developer has not confirmed that you need to go through this hoop in order to get the game working when playing from Steam.

Still, if you’re still unable to connect to Outriders servers, you’re kind of running out of options anyway. Taking a few minutes to see if this method works or not won’t make or break you.

Follow the instructions below to sync your Steam account with your Square Enix ID in order to fix the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers‘ error on PC:

1. From your PC, open up your default browser and access the home page of the Square Enix Account Management System.
2. Once you’re inside the platform, sign in with your user credentials if you already have an account. If you don’t click on Register for a Square Enix Account.

   

   Note: If you already have a Square Enix account, skip the next steps and move directly to step 7.

3. If you need to go through the process of creating a new account, insert your Country, region and choose the credentials that you want to sign in with before filling up the personal details tab.

   

   Note: Keep in mind that before creating your Square Enix account, you need to agree with the TOU (Terms of Use) and with the Privacy Policy by checking the appropriate boxes before clicking Next.

4. After you hit the Next button, Square Enix will send you a confirmation code on the email box that you previously used as validation. Access your inbox, retrieve the code and paste it inside the Confirmation Code before clicking on Confirm to validate your account.

   

5. Once the account has been created and your Square Enix ID generated, click on Next and you’ll be redirected to the login page. When you get there, insert the email and password you previously used.

   

6. Next, make your way to membership.square-enix, click on the login tab at the top, then click on Square Enix account from the list of available options.

   

7. Next, go ahead and sign in with the Square Enix credentials you previously created.
8. Once you get to the Almost Done page, ensure that your birthday, country, region, and username are correct before accepting the Terms of Use and clicking on Save.

   

9. Once you are finally signed in, click on your account icon (top-right) corner of the screen, then click on Linked Accounts from the context menu that just appeared.

   

10. Once you get to the next screen, click on the link icon associated with Steam.

    

11. Once you get to the next screen, insert the username and password associated with the Steam account that you’re using when attempting to launch Outriders and hit Link Account. |

    

12. Once the two accounts are linked, return to your Steam launcher and boot up Outriders to see if the ‘Could not connect to Outriders servers‘ error is now fixed.

In case the same type of issue is still occurring, move down to the final potential fix below.

Use a VPN Software (PC Only)

If you’ve come this far without a result and you’re encountering the issue on a PC, it’s about time to start suspecting your ISP as the main cause of the issue.

Keep in mind that Outriders is quite a demanding game from a bandwidth perspective. But instead of dropping you while you’re in the middle of a game, you won’t be permitted to join the online service if your ISP facilitates significant latency or packet loss. In most cases, these types of issues are facilitated by a Level 3 node that stands between you and the game server and slows things down.

For situations like the one I described above, the best course of action (if we don’t consider changing the ISP) is to adopt a VPN service that is capable of bypassing the Level 3 ISP node.

If you already have access to a VPN node that you’re fond of enable it and attempt to connect to Outriders online servers once again.

On the other hand, if you’re in the market for a good gaming VPN, pick one from our UPDATED list of gaming VPNs – all of the options featured inside this article are capable of bypassing a level 3 node.