Since launch, Apex Legends players have been clamoring for cross-platform play across Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Despite being announced as a key feature when the game released, Apex Legends still won’t let you pair up with your friends on different platforms. That said, the feature has been on Respawn’s mind for a while, so we’ll likely see it in the future. Until then, here’s everything we know about cross-platform play with Apex Legends.
Further reading
Is Apex Legends cross-platform?
Apex Legends isn’t cross-platform right now. If you want to play, you’ll only be able to play with other players on the platform you’re on. The fact that cross-platform play isn’t supported yet is, frankly, shocking, as it was a key feature mentioned by Respawn when it announced Apex Legends a little over a year ago.
In the same Eurogamer reveal, lead producer Drew McCoy said that players will be able to, at some point, play with other players on different platforms. However, McCoy confirmed that cross-purchase and cross-progress “will never be possible … due to the way systems were set up early on.”
So, cross-purchase and cross-progress are out of the question, but we’ve yet to see cross-play, despite the fact that it was a key development feature for the team when the game was announced. Since then, we’ve heard little from Respawn in regards to cross-play. The most we’ve gotten is a blurb from Game Informer issue 324.
In it, Apex Legends general manager Dusty Welch said that cross-play is important “on a personal level,” but provided little detail outside of that. In short, cross-play is and has been on Respawn’s radar, though we don’t have any indication of when it will be coming.
When could cross-play come and how would it work?
Apex Legends just received its Season 4 update, which should be the last major update for a while. At minimum, cross-play is likely a few months off, though it could be much longer. We assume the feature will come with the start of a new season. Whether that’s Season 5 or Season 15, though, we don’t know.
We do know, however, that Respawn is already planning future seasons. Design director Jason McCord tweeted that the team is already testing content for seasons 5 through 8. Based on McCoy’s response in the most recent issue of Game Informer, we’re inclined to believe that cross-play is a feature that Respawn is currently testing. We’re just speculating, however.
And for a fun anecdote, we are literally testing content for Season 5, 6, 7 and 8 regularly. We have LOTS coming, and aren't going anywhere.
— Jason McCord (@MonsterclipRSPN) April 6, 2020
As for how cross-play will work, everything will likely be tied to Origin. There are probably a lot of technical details that Respawn and EA still need to work out, but players are already using EA servers to connect on their platform of choice. As long as everything is tied to Origin, the servers can be platform agnostic and matchmake players from various systems.
Again, we’re speculating, but cross-play through Origin isn’t a crazy idea. That’s how Epic achieves cross-play with Fortnite, after all, requiring you to link an Epic Games Store account to play across PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch. Hopefully something like that will come to Apex Legends in the near future, though we wouldn’t recommend holding your breath on a Switch release.
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