What is crossplay? Playing with friends on other consoles and PC, and how cross-save differs

Crossplay, short for cross-platform play, lets players on different machines play together online at the same time: for example, someone on a console joining a friend on PC. It is now common, but for years it was the exception.

Crossplay and cross-save are not the same

• Crossplay: playing in the same match as people on other systems
• Cross-save: your progress is stored on the game’s servers so you can continue on another platform
• Cross-buy: buying a game once and getting it on several systems

A game can offer one without the others, so it is worth checking each one before buying.

How it became normal

Sony restricted crossplay between PS4 and other consoles for years, which split the player bases of games like Rocket League and Fortnite. After the backlash over Fortnite on Nintendo Switch in 2018, it allowed crossplay for select games, starting with Fortnite that September, and opened it to any developer from October 2019. In 2020, Epic released a free toolkit to help studios add crossplay.

Games with crossplay

Fortnite, Rocket League, Minecraft (Bedrock edition), Hearthstone, Overwatch, Final Fantasy XIV and the Monster Hunter games are among the best-known examples.

Why some games don’t offer it

The main reasons are control differences, since keyboard and mouse are usually considered better than a gamepad for aiming; console makers’ rules and certification; business reasons, because platforms want players to stay with them; and hardware limits in games where one player’s machine hosts the match.