Is Apex Legends cross platform? Yes, Apex Legends crossplay is finally a thing. After what seemed like an eternity, cross-platform play has finally arrived in the game, courtesy of Electronic Arts and Respawn.
If you’ve been part of the gaming scene for a while, you would have rarely seen corporations actually giving the community what it wants.
Cross-platform gaming in the battle royale space has been one such demand, with players clamoring for it for years. For a long time, only Fortnite had true crossplay to speak of.
We saw the tide changing in a big way when news came out about Call of Duty: Warzone’s beta launching with cross-platform play back in September 2019.
One game which had long resisted this shift towards unifying the warring kingdoms was Respawn and Panic Button Games’ Apex Legends.
But with Respawn finally bringing cross-platform play for the game, fans of the hugely popular battle royale shooter can definitely count this as a win.
Cross-platform play was first announced as a beta feature in June 2020 by EA as part of the then-upcoming Aftermarket Collection Event, Apex Legend’s first major promotional event of Season 6.
Playing multiplayer shooters with friends online is insanely fun as it is, but with cross-platform functionality enabled, you can now double the fun by doling it out with all your PC and console pals.
Moreover, with the game now available on Nintendo Switch as well, there’s no reason to leave behind your hand-held teammates.
With new features come new questions. But we’ve got you covered with this comprehensive guide on how to enable or disable crossplay, how to find and add friends in-game, how exactly matchmaking works in Apex Legends and finally some limitations on cross-progression.
Let’s get into it then and answer all your questions, gearing you up to create memorable match-ups as you play with friends.
How To Enable Apex Legends Crossplay?
You don’t need any extra steps to turn the setting on. Apex Legends crossplay is enabled by default in this game.
It has been done to ensure minimal waiting times on the lobby screen. Once you add friends to your friends list, irrespective of the platform they’re on, you can simply start landing in Duos, Triples or Arenas together as usual.
The battlefields of Kings Canyon, Olympus and World’s Edge will be ripe for your exploits, with the audience witnessing said exploits, now expanded to encompass even greater numbers.
It’s worth pointing out that the voice chat and intelligent pinging feature are excellent for coordinating with the players in your team as you go about your business.
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Do note that crossplay will not kick in if you’re going solo. You’ll be part of only PC matches if you’re playing on PC and only console games, if you’re on a console.
How to add friends in Apex Legends: Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, PC players?
Before you start populating your friends list, it’s a good idea to check your settings and ensure your friends are able to find you the way you want them to.
You can do this by going to your Privacy Settings in your EA account and Billing settings and choosing your desired method in the Allow users to search for me by menu. You will have one of the below options to choose from depending on your platform:
- Email address (PC)
- PSN Online ID (PS4/PS5)
- Xbox Live ID (Xbox One and Series X/S)
- Nintendo Nickname (Switch)
Once you’re satisfied with the privacy settings, adding your friends in the game is fairly simple. Just follow the steps below and you’ll be sending party invites to your friends in no time.
- Click Find Friend in the Friends menu
- Enter your friend’s username, bringing up a list of gamertags
- Simply hover over your friend’s gamertag and click Send Friend Request
- All friend requests are handled in-game and appear at the top left corner of the screen
- Your friend can either accept, reject or block your request
You can also easily identify which platform your friends are logging in from. All players, whether a PC friend or otherwise, will have an icon next to their name, which can be a gamepad icon, an Xbox icon or a desktop icon.
What Platforms Is Crossplay On?
The current list of all the platforms having crossplay is fairly inclusive:
- Steam
- Origin
- PlayStation 4 (PS4)
- PlayStation 5 (PS5)
- Xbox One and Series X/S
- Nintendo Switch
How Does Cross Platform Play Work?
Cross-platform multiplayer is now live on almost all consoles and platforms covering the PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo player base. There are some rules governing the lobbies though.
To ensure fairness across PC and consoles, all-PC player Squads will be matched only with those on PC and similarly, all-console player squads will be matched only with console players.
You can still play with friends cross-platform. In case of mixed squads of PC and console players, you’ll be matched only with PC squads.
This is a usual feature of cross-platform games as PC players are generally considered to be at an advantage when compared head-to-head against their console counterparts.
How To Turn Off Crossplay In Apex Legends?
You might be wondering whether there’s an option to disable crossplay altogether. Well, you’re in luck. There is an option to turn the setting off.
Maybe you’re playing on consoles and competing with PC players is an issue for you. Or you’re a Nintendo fan and simply don’t want PC and console players spoiling your party.
Here are the steps:
- Head to the Settings menu by clicking the cogwheel in the Main Menu
- Navigate to Cross-Platform Play
- Click Disabled to turn it off
Disabling crossplay is not available to PC players at the moment. Also, if you turn it off, you’ll be matched only with those who’ve turned it off as well, thereby limiting the pool of people you can matchmake with. This will increase waiting time for games considerably.
Does Apex Legends Have Cross-Progression?
Cross-progression is not available between PC and consoles in Apex Legends at the moment. You cannot currently, carry over your progression, in-game achievements, items and rank to other platforms. If you move to another platform, you will have to start from scratch.
This is done to ensure Ranked Play stays balanced in the game as different platforms have varying advantages and difficulties inherent to them.
You can however carry over your progression between Steam and Origin, as both of these are on PC.
To do this, you need to link your EA account when you first launch it on Steam. Plus, make sure it’s the correct account as you may not be able to unlink it.
And that’s it! We’ve pretty much covered everything you need to know about Apex Legends crossplay in this guide. We hope you found it useful.
