Cross-play was supposed to usher in a friendlier, more collaborative era of online gaming. PlayStation and Xbox players could finally unite regardless of console, and PC players could get in on the act too. However, it's not really played out that way so far, especially when the PC community is factored in.
Reddit, community forums and all forms have social media have been flooded with fan concerns for a number of months. Why is cross-play often forced? Why should we be teamed up with cheaters on PC? Where's the benefit to console players?
It's gotten so bad that the likes of The Verge have decided to tackle the subject head on. The issue seems worse on Xbox, as Microsoft is getting into the habit of forcing cross-play where it's an option on PlayStation in the likes of Call of Duty: Warzone. Here are just a few community comments, from players who've noticed problems grow.
In response to The Verge's article, Reddit user diflord said:
"The main problem isn't inputs, it RAMPANT cheating on PC that nobody seems to have the ability to stop. But yes, FOV, frames and other such things are also a big deal. All these problems are pretty much solved if you allow console players to opt-out of playing with PC."
In a different Reddit thread discussing Halo Infinite cheating, user Gabagoo44 made this point:
"Considering how cheating ruined Warzone this is a bad sign for the life cycle of this game [Halo Infinite]."
Skill-based matchmaking is also a bit of a sore spot with online shooters these days. Reddit user PriorityMassive7411 explains how both SBMM and cross-play are harming their experiences:
"For me it’s like I go against a whole team of pc players with my team of Xbox and get my lunch money stolen but on the other hand I fight Xbox player on the opposing side I’m just fine against them and it feels fair."
We've noticed these issues too, particularly in Warzone before Activision introduced Ricochet, its kernel-level anti-cheat system. With 343 Industries already working on a fix for cheaters in Halo Infinite, the problem doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon.
With all that being said, how do you feel about Xbox's current cross-play options?
Comments 38
I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a bonafide cheater in a game yet. A couple sweaty af YouTubers for sure. But not sure if I’ve encountered cheating.
It most definitely is. Total joke that console players should be forced to play with PC. Should always be optional, and there's plenty of player base to support both. So annoyed that it seems all the shooters are forcing cross-play... It's a big "F you!" to console players who are put at a huge disadvantage...
With MS's push for accessibility and options as of late seems weird that its forced on their marquee title. I'm sure the option will be added in time though.
@Dusk_Actual boot up any older call of duty and you will encounter them immediately. The neighbor kid was playing black ops 2 on his ps3 and was getting pingponged around the map.
I believe that CHOICE is the correct answer - whether that's a 'choice' to opt in or out doesn't matter - its semantics (whether cross-play is default or not doesn't matter if people still have the choice to opt out if they want).
If people are opting 'out' of the default 'cross-play', that should send a message to the studio that something isn't 'right' - whether that's cheaters, mods or generally feel that they are at a distinct disadvantage against other players on PC, that's a clear message to the developers to address.
Regardless, it should ALWAYS be a choice and I have no issue with cross-play as 'on' by default (as that should provide the best experience as more players should mean better lobbies - instead of being connected with players all over the globe so language barriers and high 'ping' are detrimental) but should still provide the option to 'opt out' if the experience is 'detrimental' due to the openness and hardware of the PC platform that makes it 'easier' to mod/hack the game, cheat and/or gain some unfair advantage...
@Dusk_Actual Same here, I've been playing weekly since the "early multiplayer release" with controller on PC, and I'm surprised that I don't see it all the time if it is really that big of an issue. I obviously fully believe cheating is happening, there have just been so many articles that make it seem like an epidemic and my experience hasn't aligned with that perception. Maybe Microsoft is prioritizing pairing PC cheaters with XBOX players.
I say have it standard and allow for folks to opt out. Not everyone is experiencing the issues so the ones that are playing at higher competitive levels they can opt out. I don't think I've seen any cheating but then again i haven't completed my ranked placement matches yet. Most won't experience the issues so that's why i think having cross-play enabled out of the box with the option to opt out day one as the way to go for all multiplayer games.
I guess I consider myself lucky. I've put in 100 hours and haven't encountered anything yet. To me personally there is no issue.
That being said I always think choices are a good thing. Just let people choose who they want to play with when it comes to cross play.
People should have an option - it should not be forced on them.
It depends on the game, but yes, it should be optional.
You’re not going to have an advantage on Rocket League regardless of the platform you play on (except maybe 120fps) so games like that it doesn’t matter. MMOs also it doesn’t really matter.
But for FPS titles, especially unranked where they don’t matchmake according to skill, then I think it can be a real problem for some. Especially as cheaters are more prevalent on PC.
@Dusk_Actual I came across a hacker in cod:wz, when it first came out. He had an aim bot. I watched him play til the end. Had 25+kills, every shot landed. Needless to say, I reported, got an xb message a day later saying that I helped ban a player. I was happy.
Regardless if you have cross play enabled or not there will always be cheaters on an online game. With that said though I feel it should be an option. If you want to play with PC/PS/Switch owners that should be your choice and shouldn't be forced to play with other console owners if you don't want to.
Yup it's a huge reason I bought a ps5 aswelll ..got so fed up of cheating pc no lifers
@PhhhCough that’s nuts, I’ve only ever seen that stuff in vids. And then in some of the vids…it’ll show people having interactions with the hacker and the hacker will taunt them for “playing poorly”, though definitely not in those words.
I personally don’t understand the allure of cheating. Hollow victory is more of a defeat than actual defeat.
@Luigi_Skywalker I’ve heard about this stuff. Very unfortunate. It’s kept me from going back and having a nostalgia trip in WaW Multiplayer
I just want to cross play with all my friends on whatever console we own and if I'm not with them I'd like to be able to select Xbox online or console only. I do think the controller only method works quite well and splitting teams up based on input so 2 key 2 controllers vs 2 key 2 controllers. Just give us the options and I'm fine. Changed a lot just going xbox on Sea of Thieves.
It wouldn't be an issue if they had included anticheat software with the game. This is a barebones requirement of any multiplayer game released on PC. Why they though they were above it is beyond me.
Options are never a bad thing so give folks the choice. Be honest with them too and if console only means a longer queue then tell them. Personally I would accept that as the price I pay for a level playing field.
Choice should always be the default. Let me sort by platform, by whether or not someone is on wifi or wired, by region, etc.
That said, not every game is the size of something like Halo or CoD. Crossplay is absolutely essential to niche games and genres and I hope the push toward crossplay continues to strengthen.
@InterceptorAlpha Agreed. It lets 343 off the hook to focus on the crossplay aspect alone. I'd like the choice to opt in or out, but if PC is still overrun it really isn't a choice at all.
Opting in would at least make you acknowledge the issue and allow the person to decide before even playing.
you should always have the option to opt out of playing with pc players
Rather than turning off crossplay, I wish you could turn off PC crossplay, but have it be something you could toggle on or off. Most of my friends play games on PC, but if I ever multiplayer titles alone, I would avoid the crossplay.
Not sure I've ever seen cheaters in the game. Would there be an obvious way of spotting one?
Surely the developers of infinite knew this was an issue did they never think to make crossplay optional or did they just not want to
Nah, I don't see a problem with crossplay..
Even as a PC user on Halo myself I definitely understand both sides a bit on this. I understand why console players want a choice for the reasons put in the article.
I can see it from the dev side as well though wanting to force it as it helps populate all the gametypes more with more players.
Hopefully 343's cheater fix next month will kick the problem to the curb all together.
Only console players should play together. Leave the PC outside.
On Battlefield 2042 I have disabled cross-play (unfortunately can't disable it only for PC but for PS too) and playing only with Xbox players. That's fair.
I play a lot of crossplay, and it's lame that people want to exclude players because 10+ years ago there were a bunch of aimbots in PC shooters. I personally haven't had any problems.
To me, the only noticeable difference is when someone is using mouse + keyboard and you see their screen whipping around everywhere in the spector cam. I used to think it was super unfair, but controller autoaim is so heavy nowadays, and those types of people might LOOK good but usually aren't, so it's not uncommon to see controller players stomp them.
I think stats-based ranking and matchmaking systems have an even bigger impact on enjoyment. Matches where one team is waaaaay better than the other, or where 1-4 players are waaaaaay better than everyone else have been the leading cause of frustrating / unfair / boring matches in my experience.
This has been the case long before crossplay was a thing. Let the really good players (PC or not) get pooled together with other really good players. But who knows what's going on (remember Activision-Blizzard's matchmaking patent to put players who just bought a skin or DLC into matches with bad players, in order to manipulate everyone into subconsciously associating buying items with doing better?).
There's also the problem of internet quality here in the USA. That's been a noticeable problem for me, especially in games where fractions of a second matter. Pre-aiming and pre-firing help a lot, but getting dumped into a match where everyone has 200+ ping is less of a thing for me with crossplay too thanks to the expanded player pools.
The last elephant in the room is that some people just suck at shooters or aren't as good as they used to be and want to blame others. Overall, there's a lot to be said about other problems affecting the enjoyment of online games. Crossplay has done a lot of good to let friends with different consoles or PC play together, and trying to blame and compartmentalize it instead of identifying and fixing overall problems is sad.
@Dusk_Actual More likely you've never NOTICED cheating, from your perspective it can be hard to see. They may have aimbots or other tools to give them additional info like see-thru walls or enemy map markers, but only locally on their system.
I'm kinda ok with cross play with other consoles. Do NOT support it with other PCs unless coop game.
Anything coop I'd go with. Just for sake play with friends.
How are console players at a disavantage, disregarding the cases where the PC player is cheating?
@Dusk_Actual then you havent played online game enough, hop into battlefield or Cod and youll see em in a matter of matches...apex has had a few but the new cod i only bought cause of the option to opt out....why is it so harrd keep consoles in their own ecosystem and put the pc people in theirs.... aka cross plat should be between consoles only not pc unless you want to deal with cheaters.
@blockfight yea shooting through walls rapid fire handguns or sniper rifles that headshot without zooming in at all...all comon cheats, less common today is lag switching(inputting lag so you cant be killed) and god mode cheats.
@Blessed_Koz played my share of cod and bf. Still never encountered them personally. I dunno, maybe I’m lucky. Or just didn’t know I encountered a cheater. In any case, Multiplayer is becoming less and less what I want from gaming these days.
In my opinion yes its a major problem. Most of the ppl cheating are on PC. I do not like playing against PC guys. Im a console player and should have the option to play with others on console, where it is more difficult to cheat and hack and also play against controller players.
Simple, PVE no problem PVP give the option.
Stopped playing Infinite PVP for just this reason.
@themightyant yeah you’re probably right.
It hasn’t really inhibited my enjoyment yet so my gripes with it thus far are minimal. I’m sure as time goes on the tune I whistle will change though
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