Cross-play is fast becoming a selling point for many multiplayer games. A number of multiplayer games have either launched with the feature or added it after launch. Now, it looks like yet another big multiplayer game is getting the ability to bind every platform together as a new leak hints that Apex Legends cross-play may be coming in the future.
Evidence that Apex Legends may be getting cross-play was found by known data miner That1MiningGuy. The data miner recently shared a tweet and, eventually, a video where they point to certain strings in the game’s files pointing to a feature called “Nucleus.” Said feature contains code that looks to be designed to handle the three platforms that Apex Legends is on, PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Based on this, they concluded that the feature has something to do with allowing cross-play for Apex Legends.
ALSO: Fortnite player Nick Eh 30 is the fastest growing Twitch streamer for September
Upon further inspection of the strings, That1MiningGuy stated that, in addition to cross-play, the code for Nucleus does seem to have code that points to cross-platform progression as well. However, based on what they’ve seen of the code, they concluded that the game may not be getting the latter feature alongside cross-play at first.
Sadly, nothing in the files points to when cross-play will be added to Apex Legends. However, That1MiningGuy stated that he doesn’t think that the feature will be added anytime soon.
Of course, that fact that Respawn would like to add cross-play to Apex Legends is no secret. In an interview with Dot Esports last June, Apex Legends project lead Darren McCoy admitted that the studio was interested in adding the feature to the game. However, he also stated that doing so would take “a ginormous amount of work and effort.”
“It’s just one of those things where [Respawn is] still a fairly small team so we have to pick and choose our battles,” stated McCoy.
If Nucleus, and Apex Legends cross-play does turn out to be real, it’ll see Respawn and EA trying to play catch up with other studios and franchises that have implemented the feature. The first game that comes to mind is none other than Apex Legends‘ biggest competitor, Fortnite. While the game did not launch with cross-play, Epic Games realized that value of the feature and slowly added it to Fortnite last year.
In addition to Fortnite, the other big battle royale game also is also adding a limited form of cross-play soon. At Gamescom 2019, PUBG Corp announced that Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One would be able to play with each other this coming October. Sadly, no mention of PC cross-play was made. This is likely due to the difference in controllers as most keyboard and mouse players would have a distinct advantage over gamepad users.
Perhaps the biggest game on the horizon that will feature cross-play is the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare reboot. The game, which launches on October 25, recently hosted a public beta test that featured cross-play. More importantly, files found in the PC version of said beta seem to point to a battle royale mode, or possibly a spin-off, being added to the game. If this is true, then it puts the previous three battle royale games in its sights. And Apex Legends‘ lack of cross-play makes it it stand out, but not in a good way.
With this in mind, it’ll probably be in EA and Respawn’s best interest if they can get cross-play working for Apex Legends. Nucleus does seem to indicate that the studios are trying to get the feature out the door. Here’s hoping they can get cross-play working sooner, rather than later.
