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Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Best Crossplay Games for Consoles and PC

Crossplay games—that is, games you can play online with people on consoles or platforms different than yours—are increasingly common but also increasingly fractured. Some games are available only in a couple of places, and it's often unclear why some platforms are supported for crossplay and others aren't. 

Here, we rounded up the best games that work on the most gaming destinations as possible, so you can play with your friends and family across the globe. Interested in more gaming content? Check out our guides to the Best Gaming Headsets, Best Gamepad, Best Gaming Mouse, and Best Gaming Keyboard.

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Fortnite

The gold standard for crossplay might be one of the most obvious, but it's worth calling out up top. Fortnite lets players from across Windows, Xbox One and Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, and Android all play with their friends, no matter which platform they're on, as long as they're friends via their Epic account. You can play on Mac or iOS, if you've already downloaded the app, though new players will be out of luck for the foreseeable future. The system sorts pools of players into a complexity hierarchy and defaults to the highest tier—so all your PC friends can't queue for a game with mobile players and destroy them, for example—but if you want to bring your friend on an iPhone into a game on PlayStation, you can.

Fortnite developer Epic also owns and operates the Unreal Engine and a huge library of developer tools including the Epic Online Services platform. These tools let developers add similar crossplay functionality to their own games. We mention it here because you'll see it pop up again. If you want to play games across gaming consoles or devices, you might end up with an Epic account eventually.

PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, Android

Minecraft

Microsoft-owned Mojang's Minecraft is an odd paradox of crossplay. Players can join the same servers even as they play on different platforms, but they have to be using the same version. If you've been playing Minecraft since it came out, you may still be on the Java Edition, which can be played across Windows, Mac, and Linux devices.

However, the Minecraft: Bedrock Edition—or just Minecraft, since 2017—works across Windows, iOS and Android, Xbox One and Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and 5, and even VR systems like Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR. There's a notable absence there, though: Bedrock Edition doesn't work on macOS; Mac players will have to use the Java Edition to play with their friends, and even then only with other computer players. It's a weird hurdle to get over if you're a Mac user, but there are plenty of crossplay options if you own other devices.

PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Mac, Android, iOS

Among Us

Innersloth, the relatively tiny developer behind the popular party/murder game Among Us, has managed to bring the game to quite a few platforms that can all play with each other. Originally for iOS and Android, it now supports crossplay with PC and Nintendo Switch players. It will also include PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S players when the game comes out for those systems on December 14.

PC, Switch, Android, iOS

Apex Legends

Respawn's Apex Legends is a team-based shooter that comes with some complications for crossplay, but the game tackles it well. It supports playing across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation systems (both current and last-gen), and the Nintendo Switch. 

However, as shooter veterans know, playing with a keyboard and mouse provides a considerable advantage in terms of aiming. So if you're on a console, you can choose to turn off crossplay and stick to players on your own platform. PC players, on the other hand, are stuck with the feature turned on, so just hope you're better at clicking heads than someone with a control stick.

PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Switch

Genshin Impact

In developer miHoYo's action RPG gacha game Genshin Impact, players can join each other's adventures to tackle challenges together by sharing a UID code. This works across all the platforms the game supports, including Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Android and iOS. The company has also announced a Switch version but hasn't announced a release window for this version. When it does, it should also be cross-compatible with all the other platforms.

Genshin Impact also, somewhat uniquely, supports cross-saving as well. So if you decide to play on your phone for a little while, you can keep all your progress when you go back to your console. It's a nice addition that makes this title one of those rare games where you can play on anywhere with anyone and feel like you're jumping into the same game.

PlayStation, PC, Android, iOS

Rocket League

Psyonix's Rocket League has proved its concept of “What if soccer, but with cars?” is an enduring one. And thanks to using Epic's Online Services platform, players on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC can all play together. Interestingly, PC players that play the game via Epic Game Store or Steam can participate in the cross-platform action, despite Steam being a rival game store to Epic. Who says we can't all get along?

PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC

No Man's Sky

For a game that began life starring an isolated spacefarer exploring a vast and unfathomably lonely universe, any kind of crossplay is already a big change. But as Hello Games has continued iterating on No Man's Sky, it has added online multiplayer features where you can bump into other travelers. You can interact with players across Windows, Xbox One and Series X/S, and PlayStation 4 and 5. It's not a huge amount of platforms compared to most other titles on this list, but given how unique this game's development is, it's worth noting.

PlayStation, Xbox, PC

Smite

Hi-Rez Studios' popular MOBA Smite isn't just a game, it's an entire esports scene. It's available on all the major modern consoles including Xbox One and Series S/X, PlayStation 4 and 5, and even the Nintendo Switch, as well as on PC. Any player on any of these platforms can play with each other, but only players on consoles have the ability to turn this feature off. Additionally, you can keep crossplay on for only consoles, which means excluding PC players, but if you do so, the ability to use a mouse and keyboard with these consoles will be turned off. After all, it's no fair keeping the same advantage that the players you just excluded had.

PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC

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