Apex Legends crossplay guide: How to play with friends on PC and console - Dexerto
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Apex Legends

Apex Legends crossplay guide: How to play with friends on PC and console

Published: 1/Nov/2020 15:19 Updated: 17/Nov/2020 10:13

by Tanner Pierce
Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

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Apex Legends

After being promised a few months back, cross-platform play is finally arriving in Apex Legends Season 7. Here’s everything you need to know about the new feature, including how it works, how to disable it, and more.

At one point, many people thought that playing an online game with your friends on another console was a pipe dream. Now, in 2020, thanks to a combination of modern technology and mega-corporations deciding to play nicely with each other, cross-play is slowly but surely becoming the norm across many titles in the gaming industry.

One major title that didn’t have the feature for the longest time, though, was Apex Legends. Fortunately, in June 2020, during EA Play, Respawn developers announced that this would be changing and that cross-platform support would finally be coming to the battle royale game.

It was first released in beta form, for the Aftermarket Collection event. This was so Respawn could test all the features before implementing it fully, and for any future changes they might make. As Apex Legends has yet to release on Switch, cross-play is only between PS4, Xbox One, Origin, and Steam.

How does Apex Legends crossplay work?

By default, PC players will only be matched with PC players in normal matchmaking, while console players will only be matched among themselves.

That being said, consoles can still play with PC should they so desire it, but they have to be in a party together before they start matchmaking. After that, the game will include PC players in the pool to search from.

How to add friends on PC, Xbox, PlayStation

Finding people to play with on other platforms is relatively easy, all you will need to connect with players on other platforms is their in-game name.

Once you have their name, simply open the friends menu from the main lobby screen, click the Find Friend option and search for their name.

The game will automatically look for any player matching that name on any system. After searching for another player, you will have to select the username that matches the platform they are playing on.

Add friends apex crossplay
Respawn Entertainment
Simply search your friends’ usernames on all platforms to find them.

How to turn off Apex Legends crossplay

Cross-play is automatically enabled, so if you don’t have to do anything right off the bat if you want to play with people on other platforms.

But if you don’t want to participate in the beta, the option to enable and disable it is found in the settings menu. This creates the possibility of longer wait times, though, as you’re effectively restricting the pool of players that the game can search. Still, the option is there if you want it.

Apex Crossplay settings
Respawn Entertainment
The ability to enable and disable crossplay will be in the settings menu, but it’s enabled by default.

Is cross-progression enabled for the game?

While this is something that’s being considered by Respawn, the feature is not enabled in Apex Legends currently, so if you want to play on another console, you won’t have any of your items that you previously unlocked. Respawn say that cross-progression is a “valuable” feature, but will take about it during the Steam launch later this year.

All in all, this seems like a great beta and a chance to get feedback from the community. As previously mentioned, given the fact that this is a beta, things can obviously change and be tweaked but for right now, this is a good start.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends dev explains why “useless” Wattson won’t get more buffs

Published: 26/Nov/2020 5:27 Updated: 26/Nov/2020 5:29

by Isaac McIntyre
Wattson covers her ears next to Apex Legends logo.
Respawn Entertainment

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Apex Legends Season 7 Wattson

Bad news Wattson fans… Respawn has no plans to buff the Apex Legends engineer again in Season 7, despite the fact much of the battle royale’s player base believes the Static Defender is “useless” in her current state.

Wattson who has been part of the ever-growing Apex Legends roster since mid-2019, was recently handed a buff in Season 7’s ‘Ascension’ patch; her signature ability, “Perimeter Security,” had its damage topped up slightly.

According to the Apex Legends community, however, the French defender is still relatively “useless” in the Season 7 meta. In fact, the view is so widespread that a Reddit thread simply titled “Buff Wattson please” racked up 15.1k upvotes, and more than 125 awards.

In the thread, ‘BaguettePaquette’ declared: “It’s time to radically remake Wattson. Not just +5 to fences, but the whole concept of a ‘defending legend’.”

Unfortunately, when an Apex Legends dev did finally arrive in the thread, it was to deliver bad news: there are no plans to give Wattson more buffs in Season 7, despite the defender’s low pick rate in public playlists and ranked lobbies.

Respawn Entertainment
Wattson has been dubbed “useless” by the wider Apex Legends player base.

Wattson isn’t “useless,” says Apex dev

The reason, game designer Daniel Z. Klein explained, is twofold. The first is that Wattson is “all over the place” in pro play. According to the dev, who “rewound the final game,” four of the final six squads in ALGS finals included a Wattson.

The second was a rebuttal to the Reddit thread’s suggestion Wattson is “useless,” both on new map Olympus, and in all Apex Legends lobbies.

“I’m going to respectfully disagree… on Olympus, or elsewhere. You’re confusing two things; pick rate and effectiveness,” Klein said. “Yes, she’s lowest pick rate, but her win rate is very good. She’s is top 4 across most power metrics.”

The “fun” problem: why no one plays Wattson

The problem, he continued, is that Wattson “isn’t super fun for most people.” Her abilities are based around holding choke points, which Apex Legends players often shy away from.

“[That] means we can’t just put power into her until she’s more widely played, because she’s already very near the top of our power charts; on the other hand, it means that putting power into her won’t address the problem either,” he said.

“It’s not that people pick her and fail to be effective. Clearly the people who do run her have more success than on most other characters. There’s something about the FEELING of playing her that isn’t attractive, and power doesn’t fix that.”

Wattson Apex Legends screenshot
Respawn Entertainment
The French defender is powerful, but fails to be “fun” in public lobbies.

Rework may be one possible solution

So, no more Wattson buffs in Season 7, especially as she continues to hit top scores on many of Respawn’s hidden metrics. A rework though? That’s another story.

“Your suggestion for a rework is most promising,” Klein admitted, but said there are two issues there; the cost ⁠— “reworks are incredibly expensive” ⁠— and two, she already fills an area “very needed” in competitive play: defensive strengths.

“I don’t think she should be 100% or near 100% pick rate in competitive… ideally we find a rework that makes at least part of her kit exciting in the moment, while not losing her identity as a structure giver,” the Apex developer concluded.

Respawn Entertainment
Mirage (pictured) and Lifeline have both got reworks; could Wattson be next?

There was a glimmer of hope for fans of the French defender, however. Klein admitted he “could be convinced to buff her” in an effort to “throw a bone to Wattson mains,” but promised that “wouldn’t change the problems.”

For now, Wattson mains should hold tight. There’s a rework in the pipes that may eventually land, and more buffs are possible; it may just take a bit of begging!