As you may know, Darktide is a cooperative first-person shooter video game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It was released on November 30th, 2022, for Microsoft Windows and an anticipated release on Xbox X|S. One of the most anticipated features of the game is crossplay support between PC and Xbox players. Here’s what you need to know about Darktide’s crossplay support, what you can do now with friends on other devices, and what’s coming in the future.
Quick Overview of Cross-Play and the Challenges in Enabling It
Crossplay (aka cross-play) refers to the ability to play a game with friends on different devices. For Darktide specifically, which is only coming to Microsoft systems (Windows and Xbox X|S), cross-play refers to the ability for PC gamers and Xbox players to play with each other against the hordes in-game.
Crossplay can be quite challenging to enable. The reason has to do mostly with balancing the games. Most skilled gamers can do much better with a mouse than with a console controller, for example. This is much more of an issue in competitive FPS games. Therefore, there shouldn’t be any major balancing issues between devices. At worst, some Veteran Sharpshooter allies may be slightly less able to lay down covering fire for their allies.
Current Crossplay Support in Warhammer 40K: Darktide
At the moment, Darktide does not support crossplay between PC and Xbox consoles. However, don’t be too concerned. It will release for Xbox soon after. The most likely release is sometime in mid-late December 2022, in time for the holiday gift-buying season. We came to this conclusion after their recent community update on November 30th that said:
“When is Darktide coming to consoles? We know this is one of the top questions console players have. We will have more news on the Xbox Series X|S release date as soon as possible and likely immediately after the release on PC.”
Will Darktide Ever Support Crossplay between PC and Xbox X|S?
Once Darktide is released for Xbox, crossplay should come soon after. This was confirmed by the dev team in the same November 30th update referenced just above. They said: “Will crossplay and cross-save be available? We see the value in cross-play and cross-save and fully intend to support cross-play shortly after launch. Cross-save is more complex to execute and still being investigated.”
It typically takes a few months to enable crossplay between platforms, so expect it to happen sometime in early-mid 2023.
Crossplay will bring player counts up and make the game more enjoyable for all players, no matter their device of choice. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Darktide and crossplay!
We’ll be sure to update you with more information as it becomes available. Feel free to read our other Darktide guides, including our Psyker build guide. Until then, happy gaming in Warhammer 40K: Darktide!
Additional Frequently Asked Questions
Crossplay is a feature that allows players on one platform to play with those on another platform. In order for crossplay to work, the game must be cross-platform, meaning that it can be played on multiple platforms. For example, a game that is crossplay-enabled on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 would allow players on both consoles to play together.
Crossplay can also be used to refer to the act of playing a game across multiple platforms. Although, this is more often referred to as cross-progression. For example, someone who frequently plays games on both their Xbox One and their PC could be said to be “crossplaying.”
Ultimately, crossplay is a great way for gamers to connect with friends, no matter what platform they’re on.
Until Darktide is released on other platforms besides PC, you won’t be able to play or enable or make use of crossplay. Stay tuned. Once crossplay is ready, we will update our guide here.
Crossplay allows you to play a game with friends that share the same game but not the same device. It’s fairly common for friends to not all have the same systems. Moreover, with crossplay, you can also play multiplayer games more easily within a household that doesn’t own multiple Xbox or PS systems.
Crossplay should improve matchmaking. By connecting players on other devices together, it allows the matchmaking system to have a larger pool of players to draw from. In this way, you should find more similar players faster than without it.
At this time, Warhammer 40K: Darktide is expected to only be a Windows PC and Xbox exclusive. For this reason, we only expect PC and Xbox X|S to support Darktide crossplay.
Crossplay is not a common feature in competitive games, yet it is very desired. For instance, fans of the popular looter shooter often wonder does Hunt Showdown support crossplay? In this case, Hunt’s crossplay is only enabled across consoles and not with PC. This is done to avoid the issue of PC gamers gaining a tactical edge. In many other games, there is no support. For instance, there is no crossplay in Payday 2.
