'Overwatch' Launches Cross-Play Capability for PC and Console Gamers

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 09 June 2021, 05:06 pm

"Overwatch," a first-person shooter game by Blizzard Entertainment, was launched in 2016 and is getting a new feature soon.

Blizzard Entertainment is releasing a cross-play beta that will let both PC games and console gamers play in matches together for the first time. The update is expected to be added in the next couple of months.

Overwatch is Getting a Cross-Play Beta

The gamers on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch were all separated, but the upcoming update should make it easier for all gamers to find online matches that they can join in, whether it is with their friends or with other players.

Some of the most popular online titles like "Fortnite," and "Call of Duty: Warzone," feature cross-play support, and it bodes very well that this feature may be supported earlier on in the game's upcoming sequel "Overwatch 2."

Also Read: 'Overwatch' Experimental Card Arrives - Buffs Genji, Reaper, and Mei: Delayed Season 27

Cross-play is a great addition to "Overwatch" features, but it may not be the update that fans are waiting for. The update does not enable cross-progression between multiple copies of the game that the player may already own, according to Venture Beat.

This means that the collection of skins and XP level of a gamer on a console such as a Nintendo Switch won't carry over to other platforms.

However, that might not be the case in the future. In a recent Reddit post, "Overwatch" technical director John Lafleur said that since cross-progression is so complex, it is better to focus on cross-play first and then explore progression as a potential add-on in the future.

Blizzard Entertainment stated that in order to start the cross-play beta, players will need to sign up for a Battle.net account. Gamers can link their respective console account to Battle.net with their account settings.

Doing this will allow gamers to play with their friends that they have added on Battle.net instead of friends that exist within their console's own friends list.

If a gamer has a Battle.net account and log into "Overwatch" by the end of 2021, they will get a golden loot box, which guarantees a legendary-tier in-game item, according to Forbes.

Overwatch 2 Update

According to PCGamer, Blizzard Entertainment will make changes with its maps in "Overwatch 2" as the developer showed off fresh new lighting earlier this week.

Software engineer Marco Alamia and developers Bruce Wilkie and Fabien Christin stated that they'd run a new feature using the Environment States.

These allow all the environmental properties of a map, like lighting, fog, weather effects, and shadows, into a single entity that can be swapped between levels.

The lighting and environmental effects are currently put together on a level-by-level basis, carefully created to get the look and feel of an "Overwatch" space. However, the environment states that the atmosphere can be plugged into a different arena.

The rest of the blog post outlined the technical details of how the update works. This is a developer tool, and many of its uses are less advanced as expected. Despite that, a whole new world of gameplay scenarios has been opened up.

Also, "Overwatch 2" player vs. player or PVP got an update. The matchups and capable tanks will lead to more dynamic fights.