In a recent interview with games™ magazine, Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan opened up about crossplay and cross-platform experiences.
Overwatch is currently available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, but offers no cross-platform play. Crossplay between PS4 and Xbox One is at an impasse and has been for some time due to Sony’s refusal to come to the party.
While Overwatch crossplay between PC and Xbox One is not available due to perceived balance issues. However, Kaplan’s comments suggest that he sees the benefit in cross-platform play, so could we see Overwatch crossplay at some point?
Overwatch Crossplay
In the interview, Kaplan says;
Fortnite and PUBG recently made a huge impact on gaming by having cross-platform experiences that spanned the PC, consoles and mobile. Cross-platform experiences, especially in social games or games with persistent progression, are very exciting.
I hope to see platforms open up and embrace the way players want to play more. The technology and the desire exist. I believe it would be beneficial to everyone to open platforms up more to bring players together. So I’m definitely hoping for more cross-platform opportunities.
Fortnite is currently the biggest game on the planet and is aggressively pursuing cross-platform play. As it stands today, only PS4 to Xbox One crossplay is disabled for Fortnite. PUBG allows cross-play between iOS and Android, but not yet between PC and Xbox One.
Rocket League’s cross-platform support will launch later this year and will allow connections between PC, Switch and Xbox One or PS4 and PC. So the question has to be asked whether Blizzard is starting to see the benefit in allowing multiple communities to play together.
How could it work?
If Overwatch crossplay were to be introduced, there are plenty of barriers that would need to be overcome. And I’m not talking about Reinhardt.
The most obvious issue would be the difference in controls. PC players have a much higher level of fidelity and fine aim with mouse and keyboard, which would make it much more difficult for console players to find an even footing.
However, if Blizzard was able to find a solution to this, there could be a way to make Overwatch crossplay work.
Blizzard has said in the past that there won’t be crossplay for the game, but time’s change and maybe the developer’s opinions have too.
There is no cross platform play. We'll keep an eye on cross-platform possibilities on the consoles.
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 4, 2016
We have no plans for that. Mixing mouse/keyboard and controller can have balance and competitive issues.
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) June 4, 2016
While Jeff Kaplan has said he’s excited about the possibilities of cross-platform play, it doesn’t mean that it’s even being considered for Overwatch.
Would you like to see cross-platform play for Overwatch?
