One of Apex Legends‘ most fan-requested features is finally coming soon.
Apex game director Chad Grenier explained that a crossplay beta is hitting the Outlands next week, allowing Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC players to jump into the fray together. The exciting feature debuts Oct. 6 along with the Aftermarket Collection Event, which will include new content, cosmetics, rewards, and the Flashpoint limited-time mode.
Players will be able to add, invite, and voice chat with friends from all platforms. But matchmaking will be a bit more nuanced.
Throughout the beta, console players will all be grouped together. PC players, on the other hand, will continue to play with only other PC players.
“We want to ensure that keyboard and mouse PC players are not being matched against console players, for reasons that should be obvious,” according to Grenier.
If Xbox and PlayStation players want to group up with a PC player, however, they’ll be put into a PC match. This way, console players can opt to play in a PC match, while console matches are free of mouse and keyboard users. Players who don’t want to participate in the crossplay feature can disable it, placing them into matches with others who opted out at the risk of higher queue times.
Crossplay will also give the devs and the community a chance to see how controller players perform against mouse and keyboard users. A mouse and keyboard allow for quicker and more precise movements. To compensate, controllers offer an aim assist feature to track targets easier.
Respawn will use the beta to collect data, test the feature at scale, and gather feedback from the community. Although the Aftermarket event ends on Oct. 20, Respawn hasn’t revealed how long the crossplay beta will last.
