GamingOverwatch

Overwatch 2: How to crossplay with friends on PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch & PlayStation

Lauren Bergin
Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch’s Crossplay patch is causing major region issues.

The Overwatch 2 community is pretty diverse, and with the game available across Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and PC, cross-playing with friends is one of its best features. If you’re new to the process, here’s exactly how to join your team online.

It’s no secret that Overwatch 2 appeals to a wide range of gamers across the globe. You’ve got the casual gamers to the pro players, with the cartoon style and low skill barrier to getting started making the title a hit with younger and older players alike.

With the 2022 June patch to the original Overwatch game, crossplay was finally introduced after being requested for years. So, without further ado, here’s how to play with your friends across PC, Xbox, Switch, and PlayStation.

Contents

What is crossplay?

Lucio in Overwatch 2Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch 2 certainly isn’t just for PC gamers. The title’s been released on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch as well, meaning that there’s a whole host of users playing on different platforms.

Joining the likes of Fortnite and Apex Legends, which have a feature known as ‘cross-platform play,’ Overwatch 2 allows players to group up and play with their friends no matter their platform of choice.

So, if your mate likes to throw down on the sticks with their PS5 but you’re more of a cold, calculating PC player, you can still farm some loot boxes together despite your different hardware; just don’t bring up the topic of which is “better,” for everyone’s sake.

Is Overwatch 2 crossplay?

Reinhardt, Mei, Lucio, Tracer, and Mercy from Overwatch 2Blizzard Entertainment
Overwatch 2 is always better with friends, and now you can play with more friends than ever!

One of the main issues fans have had with the iconic FPS since its launch is the fact that it never supported crossplay while other games did. However, Blizzard heard the pleas and after a long wait, introduced the feature into the game.

On June 2022, Blizzard finally introduced the crossplay feature into Overwatch 2. To take part, just make sure your console account is linked to your Battle.net and you’ve added the friends you want to play with.

How to link console and Battle.net accounts

Overwatch CrossplayBlizzard Entertainment
In order to play with your friends on different platforms and utilize crossplay, Blizzard announced that you just need to make sure your console is linked to your Battle.net account.

If your account is not linked yet, here’s what you need to do:

  1. Sign up for Battle.net if you don’t have an account.
    • For those who do, just sign in.
  2.  Click your account’s name in the top right corner.
  3.  Choose ‘account settings’ from the dropdown menu.
  4. Select “connections.”
  5. In the list that appears, connect your Battle.net to your Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, or Nintendo account.
  6. Jump into a game and play with your friends!

How to add friends in Overwatch 2

Looking to team up with friends on other platforms? Here’s how to do it!

  1. Launch Overwatch 2.
  2. Open the “Social” menu on the main screen. It’s under “BATTLE PASS”.
  3. Under the “Friends” tab, search for the orange rectangle that says “ADD FRIEND”.
  4. Put your friend’s Battle.net tag or email and send the invitation.
  5. Wait for your friend to accept the request.

You can also check the third tab called “Recent players”, select anybody who has shared an online match with you, click their name, and click on “Add Battle.net Friend”.

How crossplay works in Overwatch 2

Crossplay is enabled for all game modes in Overwatch 2 except for Competitive games. Competitive players will be split into two pools depending on the system that they are playing on: one for console players, and another for PC players.

For balance purposes, PC players and console players will not be mixed in the same pool for competitive matches.

This means that if you’re on PC playing with friends on a console, you can only play together in non-competitive game modes. Any group consisting of both PC and console players will be placed into the PC player matchmaking pool.

Mouse & keyboard players will not be able to join the console player matchmaking pool, regardless of who is in their group.

Finally, if console players are looking to prove themselves to PC players, they’ll have to do so without any Aim Assist, as the feature will be disabled by default if you group up with a PC player to equalize play during the match.

Is Overwatch 2 cross-platform?

Yes, Overwatch 2 has cross-platform progression. This means you can play Overwatch 2 on any console of your choice, close the game, and then open it up again on a different platform and pick right where you left off. All you have to do is always access the game with your same Battle.net account and you’re all set.

It’s worth noting that even though you can access your in-game currencies between Xbox and PlayStation, whatever amount you purchase in the Nintendo Switch can only be used there.

That’s everything you need to know about crossplay in Overwatch 2! If you’re looking to keep up to date with all of the latest news, then check out our guides below:

All Overwatch 2 characters | Sojourn guide | Junker Queen guide | Kiriko guide | Overwatch 2 server status | How to download Overwatch 2 | How many people play Overwatch 2? | Overwatch 2 picks rates: Most popular characters in OW2 | Overwatch 2: Best graphics settings to boost FPS | How to emote in Overwatch 2 | Best Overwatch 2 DPS tier list: Most popular characters for current meta | How many Competitive Points per win in Overwatch 2? | How to get Silhouette Icons in Overwatch 2

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.