Overwatch gets cross-play between PC and console players
Get ready to form a party no matter what hardware you play on.
There are now more ways for your friends to play on the same team in Overwatch.
Overwatch is available on multiple platforms, but players couldn't team up with friends using other platforms until now. In an update Wednesday, developer Blizzard Entertainment says it'll bring Cross-Play to all platforms that its team-based shooting game is on, and will add a few rules to make things fair.
Cross-Play is designed to let players team up across PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch . There are a few catches. To start, players won't be able to carry over any progression when grouped with players on other platforms. Multiplayer matchmaking will still attempt to group PC players against each other, and the same for console players. There's also no competitive mode for PC and console players grouping with each other.
Read more: All the big PlayStation, Xbox and Switch games still to come in 2021
The reason behind these rules is that PC players tend to have more advantages over console players due to using a keyboard and mouse and having faster hardware. This difference would be especially noticeable for Switch players, who'd have a tough time trying to compete with someone on a computer as they play the Switch on handheld mode.
Console players will also need to sign up for a Battle.net account to participate in Cross-Play.
Cross-Play is currently in beta and will be available sometime soon. Blizzard is giving everyone who logs in to Overwatch by the end of 2021 a Golden Loot Box to celebrate.