Warzone should add console cross-play until FOV Slider is ready

Theo Salaun
call of duty warzone pacific captain price roze skins

Call of Duty: Warzone is a different game on PC than it is on PS4, Xbox, PS5, and even Xbox Series One. Until the devs fix those discrepancies, they need to add console cross-play.

There are a lot of Warzone players on PlayStation and Xbox, as Call of Duty has always been a beloved game by the console community (of which I am humbly a part of). Now, Warzone is risking our love by making us deal with PC users.

To fix this relationship, the developers should give console players the option to play amongst ourselves – with console-only cross-play. I will explain why solely using the power of facts and logic.

The first fact is that Warzone plays better on PC. It’s an undeniable truth. Their game looks better (especially with NVIDIA filters), has better frame rates, and, as is popularly envied, has an FOV Slider. Oh, and Warzone is actually playable on PC… which isn’t quite the case on console.

Warzone needs console-only cross-play for PS4, PS5, and Xbox

warzone pacific on ps4
This is how Warzone Pacific looks on PS4 (with on-demand texture streaming enabled).

We have established the performance gap: PC players play a different, better version of Warzone than the console society. If that’s the case and Warzone’s players basically play two games, then it’s reasonable to want those games’ players split up.

The second fact we must establish is that there shouldn’t be any technological limitations. At the moment, PlayStation players can turn cross-play off, but Xbox users cannot. 

Cross-play allows PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players to play against each other, so obviously, the game can allow matchmaking between consoles. There should therefore be nothing technologically preventing console-only crossplay.

Further, although turning cross-play off makes it nearly impossible for PS players to find a game currently, one has to believe those queue times would be shortened if Xbox users were added to the pool.

Console Warzone and the case of the missing FOV Slider

FOV slider in Warzone and Modern Warfare
Here’s how much difference between 60 FOV (console default) and 120 FOV.

For months upon months, console players have asked about an FOV Slider. We’ve accepted graphical and FPS inferiority, but draw the line at PC players being blessed by increased peripheral vision.

There has been no answer, despite games like Vanguard and Black Ops Cold War enjoying their own console FOV Sliders.

As such, this is a very simple issue. Activision are essentially making two different games, one for console and one for PC. Until that performance gap is narrowed, letting us play those games separately is the least they could do.

Oh, and there’s an added bonus too. Console-only cross-play would also mean not having to deal with any hackers.

About The Author

Théo is a former writer at Dexerto based in New York and built on competition. Formerly an editor for Bleacher Report and philosophy student at McGill, he fell in love with Overwatch and Call of Duty — leading him to focus on esports for Dex.