Apex Legends Cross Platform Guide: Is Apex Crossplay?

Is Apex cross-platform? Good question and one that we’re going to settle right here. Our guide will show you what your Apex Legends crossplay options are and give you some handy advice about how to play Apex cross-platform. Plus, we’ll even show you how to turn off crossplay Apex while we’re at it. So keep reading to see the answer to the question, ‘Is Apex cross-platform?’

What we mean by Apex Legends crossplay

We need to clarify the term ‘crossplay’ before we can really answer the question, ‘Is Apex cross-platform?’ So crossplay refers to being able to play against other gamers regardless of what device you’re using. This means that the best crossplay games can be played with other people, whether you’re using a PC, Xbox, PlayStation or even a mobile device. 

Cross-platform gaming used to be pretty rare because it was a costly enterprise for developers to match the gameplay across different hardware and operating systems. However, cross-platform gaming is now a much more sought-after feature of modern gaming releases, and the CoD Warzone crossplay options are a good example of this. OK, that’s the crossplay term cleared up. Now let’s look closely at your Apex Legends cross-platform gaming options!

Is Apex cross-platform?

Yes, it is! In early October 2020, Apex Legends added a cross-play function to its game. Available on multiple platforms like Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC, this function allowed players of the game to crossplay with others on another platform.

Released as part of the Aftermarket Collection Event, the cross-play beta was added. Developers cited it as one of the most requested features for the game and thus offered the ability to beta test the function. 

© Apex Legends

Immediately, all functionality was made available while the devs collected data, checked out feedback and so on. All of this was done in a bid to stave off rumours that asked, ‘Is Apex Legends dying?’ by ensuring that gamers could play against each other from a greater variety of devices.

Is Apex mobile cross-platform?

Kind of! You can enjoy Apex mobile crossplay between different kinds of mobile operating systems like iOS and Android. Unfortunately, there are no crossplay options between a gamer on a mobile and a gamer on a PC or console. So now that’s cleared up, should you start playing cross-platform matches? And will crossplay make you better at Apex Legends? Find out below!

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How does the Apex Legends cross-play feature work?

The most important thing to know is that while you can team up with your friends on different platforms, you’ll still only be matchmaking with either console players or PC players. So, if you go into matchmaking on PC, you’ll be paired with other PC players, and if you play on Xbox One, you could get paired with other Xbox and PS4 players.

You can’t cross-play for matches in general, but if you have a specific friend playing on another platform, you can link up with them and play together with some Apex pro settings. Any console player that joins a PC player’s lobby will find themselves matched against other computer players – be aware of this as you may struggle more against those using a keyboard instead of a controller.

What about Apex cross-progression?

At the time of writing this, cross-progression is NOT an available feature. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to progress your account on different platforms. This means that you’d lose whatever Apex ranks you’d gained if you switched between an Xbox and a PlayStation.

However, it’s not all bad news. According to the Apex devs, this feature is still developing and could drop sometime in 2022 or 2023. So watch this space for more details about your Apex cross-progression options. 

How to cross-play on Apex Legends

So how do you know how to add friends on Apex Legends cross-platform? Well, to play with someone, you’ll need to add them as a friend. You can now do this regardless of their platform. Go to your ‘Friends‘ menu and click on ‘Find a Friend’. Search for their username and then add them as a friend.

They will get a notification and be prompted to accept, reject, or block the request. When they have accepted, you can check the Friends menu again and find them there. There will also be an icon indicating their platform:

• A little PC icon means a PC player
• A gamepad means a console player
• An Xbox logo means Xbox One player
• PlayStation players will have the gamepad icon

When you have your friends sorted, it’s time to invite them to play. Once again, use the ‘Friends menu‘ to invite players – just like you used to do before the update. All lobby players, be they console or PC, will be able to use the in-game voice chat, so you’ll be able to communicate with them, no problem. 

If the Apex Legends crossplay ‘add friends’ feature is not working, then it’s probably best to restart your device and make sure that you have downloaded the latest operating software. All of these should open you up to enjoying the full crossplay potential of Apex Legends. 

We realise that all of that might sound confusing. So here’s a quick recap of how to set up Apex Legends crossplay:

1. Fire up the Apex Legends game
2. Go to the main menu and click on the Friends tab
3. Select the Find Friend option
4. Search for your friend’s username
5. Pick your friend’s profile from the dropdown menu
6. This will make you ‘friends’ so you can play cross-platform with each other. Easy!

Should you play Apex Legends in crossplay?

There are many pros to trying out cross-play in your Apex Legends playtime. You can benefit greatly from matching up with PC-only players if you are not a PC player. The highest skill ceiling for Apex Legends is found in PC match-making. If you seek to increase your aim and skill, matching against PC players is beneficial.

In turn, once aim assist gets boosted and eventually buffed for other platforms, PC players can try to match up with their console counterparts to try to battle an aim-assisted cheater-like opponent in some of their matches. Finally, if your queue times are getting increasingly high, Apex Legends crossplay is designed to alleviate some of that.

Above all, crossplay simply enables you to enjoy playing against a much larger number of potential gamers. This means that you can take on friends regardless of whether you’re playing on a PC or console. Plus you’ll get access to compete against the best Apex Legends players regardless of the device that you’re using. All of which should provide a much tougher and more enjoyable Apex Legends gaming experience. 

How to disable the crossplay setting

As a default, the setting is enabled. If you do not team up with any friends, it probably won’t bother you, but you can still turn it off if you want. To do so, go to the Apex Legends settings and switch the “Cross Platform Play (BETA)” option to disabled. If you are trying to use it and it is not working, check you didn’t accidentally disable the feature on your or your friend’s platform.

Tip: By disabling this setting, you may strongly increase your matchmaking times. You’ll ONLY be put into matches with other players that disabled the setting. In other words, leaving the setting enabled and just not using it is probably the better choice!

Check back for Apex crossplay updates

By now, you definitely won’t have to ask, ‘Is Apex cross platform?’ anymore. After all, we have shown you that you can play this game against friends, whether they are using a PC, Xbox, PlayStation or Switch. This means that you can simply fire up Apex Legends, get in a party with a bunch of other players and enjoy the carnage even though you are probably playing from a bunch of different devices.

While all of this is good, it’s still not quite the perfect picture. We’re not planning to play Apex mobile crossplay to the regular game version anytime soon, as these are two completely different games. However,  there is still no cross-progression for Apex Legends, but it looks like this might change soon. We hope this will be introduced sooner or later, as it would be a real shame to lose all of your hard-earned rankings.

So make sure that you bookmark this page to ensure that you’re fully up to date with all of the awesome crossplay and cross-progression options for Apex Legends!

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