Epic Online Services, the development hub for Epic Games, has expanded its crossplay overlay initiative to include initial support for games on Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation, optimizing its free SDKs for multiplayer crossplay and making it easier for developers to link their games and communities for those platforms across multiple stores. Last summer, EOS launched a PC crossplay overlay. The current upgrade enhances “capabilities across all supported platforms,” the company says, noting “crossplay enables bigger games, bigger audiences” and global games industry growth by connecting more players with a single overlay.

Epic Online SDKs allow developers to use Unreal Engine, Unity or other engines of choice, including Steam, Meta Quest, Android and more.

“This overlay should greatly simplify the process of implementing crossplay multiplayer functions into games, allowing friends who own games on different consoles or from different PC stores to play together,” writes Game Rant.

An estimated 750 million-plus Epic Games account-holders play hundreds of games via Epic Online Services. “This means that a massive number of players will soon have crossplay capability,” Game Rant notes. Crossplay is just one Epic Online tool that allows “game developers to have a single back-end service provider,” simplifying the development process.

“Anyone that’s ever developed a crossplay game knows that there are a lot of elements that go into making it feel seamless,” explains an EOS blog post. A crossplay overlay makes it possible for “players to sign in to their Epic Games account on all platforms” and easily interact with friends through:

• A consistent overlay UX. An out-of-the-box overlay that provides a familiar player experience on PC and console platforms.
• One combined friends list. Friend lists across platforms merge into one overlay, enabling players to see and invite their friends in one place.
• Frictionless cross-platform account creation. Players can start playing quickly using their existing Epic Games account or a new one that’s created for them, linked to their active native platform account.

The crossplay overlay “offers a ubiquitous way to authenticate players, streamline friend management, and provide game invite and joinability functionality that’s designed to be compliant with native platform requirements,” making it easier for devs to launch and scale games, according to Epic.

Related:
Epic Games Expands Crossplay Developer Tools to Consoles, IGN, 8/16/23
Epic Games Is Bringing Its Crossplay Tools for Developers to Consoles, The Verge, 8/16/23