In a recent Q&A on Reddit, Blizzard Vice PresidentJeff Kaplanelaborated on the company’s plans for cross-play inOverwatch 2. Though he did not outright confirm that the feature would be included, he has provided hope to fans in saying that the team is passionate about cross-play and exploring the possibility of including it.
For background,Overwatchcurrently doesn’t have cross-play, and it is thought that this is one of the main reasons the game is losing steam. With each console’s player base restricted to only playing with each other, queue times have drastically increased as the player base dwindles. Cross-play inOverwatch 2would negate that issue.
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Of course, cross-play sounds great in theory, but it comes with its own host of problems that can make things difficult for both developers and players. Hopefully if Blizzard does implement the feature inOverwatch 2, it is optional in the same way thatCall of Duty: Modern Warfarecross-play is optional.
From a developer’s point of view, cross-play can be difficult to implement. Not only are there technical limitations, but developers have to deal with publishers and different system restrictions as well. Thankfully, the biggest roadblock to cross-play was Sony’s resistance against it, and that company has since dialed back and is allowing cross-play more frequently. From a player perspective, cross-play opens up a debate about theadvantages of PC gaming over console gaming. Using a mouse and keyboard and having access to a potentially more powerful system and extra settings can help PC players gain an edge against those on console.
It is also much easier to cheat on PC, a problem that has become apparent withCall of Dutyand other games.Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academyhad to separate PC and console playersbecause PC players were making the console port unplayable. This is why a toggle option for cross-play is required, as players shouldn’t have to subject themselves to the negative aspects of cross-play if they don’t want to. Even so, most fans agree that cross-play would be a fantastic addition toOverwatchand fully supportOverwatch 2launching with it.
It seems as though even at the end of this generation,cross-play is becoming a standard featurefor many games. With any luck, that trend will persist and evolve into the next generation of consoles and eventually the feature may be common place. Either way, those wanting to see it inOverwatch 2have reason to be excited.
Overwatch 2is in development for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
