Overwatch crossplay will finally arrive soon, Blizzard Entertainment announced today. Thanks to a new global Battle.net update, Overwatch players on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox can now take the first steps towards playing together as part of a crossplay beta. Exactly when crossplay might launch, however, remains a bit vague. Additionally, the new Battle.net update has merged regional friends lists, so players no longer have to swap between regions to play with those in other areas. The only region that remains separate after this update is China.
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If you somehow were not already aware, crossplay has been a big request from the Overwatch community for a long time. And Blizzard has been well aware of that for seemingly about as long. “[T]his is something we’re passionate about and exploring,” former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan said late last year as part of a Reddit AMA. Given that Blizzard is calling this a “Cross-Play Beta,” however, there might still be a few bugs or issues to wrinkle out. You can read up all about it in Blizzard’s official FAQ.
It’s time to group up. Cross-Play is coming to Overwatch!
Game Director Aaron Keller details Overwatch’s new feature.
👀 https://t.co/7mekMknV3Y pic.twitter.com/eh1QhuhUfv
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 9, 2021
Actually accessing crossplay — when live — in Overwatch requires a couple of steps from players using the new Battle.net account features. Basically, crossplay requires connecting players’ various platforms together with Battle.net as the bridge. Based on the announcement and FAQ, it would appear that this is thankfully a relatively straightforward and painless process. As an added bonus, Blizzard also announced that anyone that participates in the upcoming crossplay beta by doing the previous and logs into Overwatch by December 31st will also receive a Golden Loot Box to celebrate the launch.
As noted above, the new Overwatch Cross-Play Beta is not yet live, but coming soon. Overwatch itself is currently available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Overwatch 2 is still in development, and it is expected to launch for the same platforms as well as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Overwatch franchise right here.
What do you think of Overwatch finally adding crossplay? Are you looking forward to playing with friends across the different platforms? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!
