The best crossplay games make it easy to play with all of your friends, regardless of where they're playing. They also help with picking up your game on a different platform without having to start over, and they show that playing together doesn’t have to be restricted to your setup.
The term crossplay, or cross-playform-play, describes a feature that lets you either play a game with someone who owns a different gaming platform from you. This is great new particularly for people who play games like Battle Royales, games that people used to predominantly play on PC but that are now available on every platform imaginable. No need for console wars – as you can play Fortnite with friends on Xbox Series X even if you have a PS5, for example.
Crossplay isn’t easy for developers to implement, but more and more games come with crossplay, especially large multiplayer games. Not all games on this list may offer crossplay across all platforms (yet), but we have picked games that allow crossplay on at least two platforms.
Best crossplay games
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below, you'll find our picks for the best crossplay games you can play right now. We'll go into a bit of detail on each, explaining while we love it, and what platforms you can play it on. Let's start things off with one of the biggest battle royale shooters in the business.
Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (PS4 and Xbox One through backwards compatibility)
Call of Duty: Warzone has taken on a life of its own since it became a standalone battle royale game, giving the likes of Fortnite and PUBG a run for their money – one of the best FPS games turned into one of the best battle royale games.
Why we love it
After a fairly shaky launch, Warzone has received smart and extensive overhauls to everything from looting to the way the map encourages engagements.
Warzone's shooting is satisfying, its map rewarding to explore, and it offers more than enough interesting concepts like the Gulag and Contracts to make each match feel wholly unique, wherever you land. With the launch of Modern Warfare 3, it's adding changes to movement, speeding up gameplay and reintroducing the slide-cancel.
Platforms that support crossplay: PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch
Apex Legends is another contender vying for the battle royale crown. Developed by Respawn Entertainment and set in the Titanfall universe, Apex Legends is a squad-based battle royale shooter where teams of three go up against 57 other players to try to gather loot and be the last person (or squad) standing.
However, unlike Fortnite and PUBG, Apex Legends sees players take on a class, each represented by a unique character (imagine Fortnite mixed with Overwatch 2 and you’ll be on the right track.)
why we love it
Apex Legends is an engrossing, revamped take on battle royale that as it stands cannot be beat for its attention, detail and care.
This is the perfect battle royale game for those who enjoy the genre's premise but can't get on board with Call of Duty's slower speed or PUBG's hyper-competitiveness – and it's free-to-play. Plus, different classes, abilities and limited-time events make for a dynamic experience overall.
Apex Legends has crossplay across all platforms, easily earning it a spot among the best crossplay games. Given it's available on pretty much every modern platform, that means you can play with friends (for free) no matter what hardware they own.
Platforms that support crossplay: PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5 and PC
Destiny 2 may have released several years ago but Bungie's online-multiplayer shooter is still going strong. This is a shooter that is constantly evolving, thanks to regular (and sometimes quite drastic) updates.
Why we love it
Starting Destiny 2 can be a little bit daunting, but stick with it and you have hundreds of hours of top-tier looting and shooting ahead of you. Leveling up and raiding with a squad of friends is one of the best gaming experiences you can have, regardless of what platform you're playing on.
Getting started can be a bit of a pain, but once you get into it (and we strongly advise to play with a group of friends) you'll find yourself hooked – Destiny 2 has a really strong and active community that's a joy to be part of.
Like Apex Legends, Destiny 2 is not only one of the best FPS games, it's one of the best crossplay games right now, allowing players across all platforms to play together that it's available on.
Platforms that support crossplay: PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC
Looking for an online horror to have you and your friends on tenterhooks (and literal hooks)? Then Dead by Daylight may be for you. This asymmetric survival horror has a pretty simple premise: if you're a survivor then you want to repair all the generators and escape the killer, if you're the killer then you want to hunt down all the survivors and sacrifice them all to the Entity by hanging them on hooks.
Why we love it
This is the perfect horror game to play with friends. The amount of coordination and trust you must have with your fellow survivors makes for some pretty thrilling and funny antics.
The variety of killers and survivors on offer, all with different playstyles, makes Dead by Daylight such fun. Additionally you have the option to purchase licensed horror movie characters like Ghostface and Pinhead. The added variety of items, perks, and add-ons ultimately makes Dead by Daylight one of the best horror games out there.
It's also one of the best crossplay games available, with cross-platform play supported on all platforms. Mobile versions of the game on Android and iOS also exist, but these are only compatible for crossplay with each other.
Platforms that support crossplay: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Rocket League, the incomparable physics-based rocket-car soccer game, remains one of the most popular online games – and it's not hard to see why.
Why we love it
Rocket League is easy to pick up and difficult to master. It has stayed true to its roots even after all these years, with a great community that's willing to onboard newcomers as well.
Rocket League's basic premise is simple (knock the ball into the goal), making it easy for anyone to pick up, while the ability to crossplay with friends means that youc an team up no matter what platform your friend is playing on.
Matches range from 1-v-1 to 4-v-4, so there’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to gathering your friends to play together. Rocket League is definitely better with friends – trying to coordinate your team between goalkeeping, defending and attacking takes coordination but can also devolve into frantic fun. There’s also a league-based system online, so you get a nice sense of progression as your team grows from a fumbling mess into a well-oiled machine.
Platforms that support crossplay: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices
Why we love it
A global phenomenon built on a keen understanding of what makes games such great escapism, seemingly with no limit to Epic’s imagination.
Fortnite has had a meteoric rise since its release in 2017, and it's not hard to see why. The free-to-play battle royale game offers players an energetic and enjoyable online multiplayer experience, throwing in some building mechanics to set it off from its competitors.
Fortnite is in many ways responsible for the popularity of the battle royale genre, even though it didn't invent it. When it comes to platforms covered, Fortnite takes the top spot on this list of best crossplay games – not only does it support cross-platform play on consoles and PC, but on mobile devices too.
Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (or PUBG) was arguably the first fully-realized battle royale game. Based on the idea behind the Japanese film ‘Battle Royale’, PUBG was the first full game dedicated to letting you fight to become last player standing and paved the way for the other games in this list.
PUBG is arguably much more intense than the likes of Fortnite, relying on pure combat ability rather than mechanics such as building. If you enjoy a challenging and battle royale then PUBG will likely be right up your street – and it's free to play.
If you're on console, you'll be pleased to know you can play crossplay with console players on other platforms. Unfortunately, console and PC players can't play together.
Platforms that support crossplay: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC (not in competitive mode)
The original Overwatch is no more, and it's been replaced by its divisive sequel Overwatch 2. Divisive because besides the usual growing pains of new multiplayer games such as long queues and connection problems, Overwatch 2 doesn't really seem to be a game for casual players anymore.
Why we love it
Overwatch 2 has really improved since launch, and in terms of playing with a dedicated group of friends, it's an absolute stellar offering.
Over the last few years, Overwatch has lost its edge to games like Apex Legends, not only in terms of updates but also when it comes to the shooters popularity for competitive players. Changing Overwatch's format to smaller PvP teams, nerfing certain heroes and offering powerful new ones. Overwatch 2 may not be an all-new way to play Overwatch, but it's certainly different, a lot more energetic and a lot more competitive.
Overwatch couldn't stay the way it was, and Overwatch 2 is the necessary response to that. A gutsy way to refresh the game, and because of it maybe better suited for players who can't help but compare it with the Overwatch that was.
Platforms that support crossplay: Xbox One, PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backwards compatibility)
Minecraft released quite a few years ago, but the core experience is as magical as ever. The sandbox survival game allows players to build with blocks in a 3D-generated world, providing a perfect creative outlet for those who enjoy building impressive digital creations.
Minecraft
You've likely heard many singing the praises of Minecraft, and there's good reason for that. It's incredibly deep, but versatile. If you want to start a server with pals and build a functioning ski-lift, you absolutely can. If you just want to mine and mess around, there's that too. Limitless possibilities in a game that only continues to improve.
Even if building castles and secret hideouts isn't your strenth, Minecraft offers you plenty of things to do – explore its world, bring back valuable loot and take on monsters that can lurk anywhere.
While Minecraft Bedrock Edition does support crossplay, the Java Edition does not. So if you and your friends want to play together across platforms, you both need the Bedrock Edition.
FAQs
Why aren't all games crossplay?
There is a development cost to including crossplay and it's also not easy to implement for already available games, hence why you don't see it across the board.
However, crossplay between Playstation consoles and Xbox consoles is becoming more common, and games that are part of Microsoft's Play Anywhere initiative automatically allow crossplay between Xbox and PC.
Prior to crossplay becoming available for Overwatch developer Wes Yanagi commented that "implementing crossplay is more difficult than people realize" (via GameSpot).
Shawn Layden, former chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, has also said that "enabling crossplay isn't just about flipping a switch and 'there you go'. It's a very multi-dimensional kind of attribute or feature" (via Eurogamer).
Even as itechnical barriers fall platform manufacturers can also be hesitant to allow cross-platform play, given they want to give players reasons to purchase their specific platform above others.
What’s the difference between crossplay games and cross-platform games?
We know, there are a lot of terms with the word “cross”-something in gaming these days. Crossplay and cross-platform are two that can be easily confused. The difference between crossplay and cross-platform games is, mainly, that a game that supports crossplay is one in which players on different platforms can play together via online multiplayer. So, for example, even though you’re on Xbox and your friend is on PlayStation, you can still play together on Fortnite.
A cross-platform release is slightly different. It just means that a game is available on multiple platforms. A game might be released with Xbox, PlayStation and Switch versions, making it cross-platform, but it won't necessarily include the crossplay support that allows players on these different platforms to play online together.
However, cross-platform play is the same as crossplay, as it means you can play with others across platforms. Confusing, we know.
What are cross-gen games?
While the word cross-gen sounds similar to crossplay, it doesn't have a lot to do with crossplay, but it can be handy is you're struggling to geta console of the current generation.
Cross-gen games are those that are released on more than one generation of consoles – like how GTA 5 was released on both PS4/Xbox One and PS3/Xbox 360, or how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was released on Wii U as well as Nintendo Switch.
Sometimes cross-gen games do support cross-play; Call of Duty Warzone, for example, offers cross-play across both last-gen and current-gen consoles plus PC, meaning whatever platform you're playing on, you can join your friends.
If you're looking for new multiplayer games to play with friends, be sure to check out our list of the upcoming games to keep an eye out for in the future. Elsewhere, there's the Upcoming PS5 exclusives that'll release in 2024 and beyond.
Post a Comment