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Destiny 2: When Is Cross-play Coming?

Here is what we know about Destiny 2's upcoming crossplay feature, and a workaround you can use now.

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Destiny 2 is available on a huge number of platforms at this point, including Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Google Stadia. There's a problem, however: That large number of platforms splits up the user-base, and there is no cross-play support for the game. If you're on Xbox and someone else is on PlayStation, you can't play together. It's true that this sort of partitioning used to be the standard for nearly every game, but many modern first-person shooters have started offering cross-play support, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Luckily, crossplay is coming to Destiny 2 in the future. But just when is Destiny 2 getting cross-play?

When is Destiny 2 getting cross-play?

Though Bungie hasn't given a firm date, it said in late January that cross-play would be coming to Destiny 2 later this year. In a blog post from February 2021, Bungie said the feature would arrive in Season 15. This could put its rollout around August, though Bungie said a "widespread" launch could actually come later in the fall.

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Now Playing: Destiny 2 - Season Of The Chosen Battlegrounds Gameplay

Then again, we've had chances to see it a bit sooner. Bungie enabled a cross-play beta in the Vanguard Strike playlist on May 25, which runs until May 27. You can't choose to play with specific friends, but joining matchmade Strikes through the playlist will pair you with players from other platforms. Participating in the beta can also earn you a special emblem called "Star Crossed," pictured below.

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Before that, the system was briefly enabled between Xbox and PC players was briefly enabled with the launch of the Season of the Splicer and transmog, before Bungie disabled cross-play with a hotfix.

Bungie has been making changes to the game's current systems in order to facilitate this move, including changing recoil to accommodate for those using mouse-and-keyboard control versus a controller. Prior to Destiny 2, Bungie had been developing console shooters alone for nearly two decades.

There will almost certainly need to be more changes once the feature is implemented, not only to make things balanced for cooperative events, but also for ensuring the Crucible stays fair. This is especially important for Trials events that give out extra rewards. Players will not be matched in mixed PC and console matches unless they have been invited to a match.

In current cross-play-enabled games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, you can also choose to only play with those on your console, so it's possible this option could be included in Destiny 2, as well.

Cross-save is live while you wait

It won't let you play between two different platforms, but Destiny 2 does offer a cross-save feature right now. This lets you unify your platforms across one account, letting you play the game on whatever platform you use: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, or even Stadia.

This means that if you traditionally play on Xbox but your friends want to play on PS5, you should be able to do so without having to restart. However, once cross-play has been enabled, this will no longer be necessary.

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