Respawn’s free-to-play shooter Apex Legends is all set to get cross-play support next week, albeit in beta form. The developer says this initial launch will be a test of sorts which means they will be collecting data, testing features, and gathering community feedback. It is to be noted though that this does not mean cross-progression will be making its way into the game. Respawn says it’s a feature it’s interested in and may consider it for later this year when the game is slated to hit Steam.
The cross-play beta of Apex Legends will enable players across PS4, Xbox One, and PC to play cooperatively or competitively with each other. More importantly, players will be allowed to search for usernames as well, which means finding friends and playing with them regardless of their platform will now be a reality. Every player will be able to accept, reject, or block friend requests.
This friends menu will also be useful for sending party invites to your buddies once enough of them have gathered. Voice chat will work across platforms, Respawn has confirmed. PC gamers, with their keyboards and mouse, could have an advantage over console users, which is why matchmaking will keep console and PC players in separate pools.
Despite this though, if friends still want to team up, everyone will be placed into the PC pool. Cross-platform play can be turned off completely, but that would mean you will only get paired up with others who have done the same too.
The free-to-play first-person battle royale action of Apex Legends has been finding a massive audience around the world. It has already been announced for the Nintendo Switch, while a release via Steam is also planned for later this year.