Overwatch Getting Cross Play On All Platforms Cross Progression Is Being Worked On

Blizzard has been working on Overwatch cross-play for years. Literally. Years. The last time we heard about it was back in 2019, and then the pandemic hit and stalled out cross-play plans for all of 2020. Now we’re in the thick of 2021, Blizzard is finally giving us an update on cross-play with rules on how it’ll work, but stopping short of a final release date.

“From its inception, Overwatch has been all about bringing players and communities together,” said game director Aaron Keller in his second developer update since the departure of long-time Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan. “A future worth fighting for is aspirational, but it is also inclusive. We have players from all over the world, from all walks of life, playing across all of our platforms. But they’re not always able to play with each other.

“This is why we’re excited to announce that cross-play will be coming to Overwatch. You’ll be able to play with your friends across all of our platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.”

When cross-play does arrive, everyone will get a Golden Loot Box to celebrate. Sadly, those looking for cross-progression will have to wait a bit longer as Blizzard continues to work on that feature.

So, how will Overwatch cross-play work? First, everyone will have to create and link a Battle.net account to whatever platform they’re playing on. The steps for doing so are outlined in Blizzard’s most recent news post.

Second, cross-play doesn’t mean everyone is matched with everyone else regardless of platform. In most game modes, console players will only be matched with other console players, while PC players will be matched with other PC players and groups that contain both PC and console players.

To keep everything fair, competitive play will only match console players with other console players and PC players with other PC players, so mixed groups won’t be allowed.

Note that whether or not you use a controller isn’t taken into account, so PC players that use a controller are still considered PC players for the purposes of cross-play matchmaking. Similarly, if you’re on Xbox and playing with a mouse and keyboard, you still won’t be matched against PC players.