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Epic release dev tools to enable crossplay between Steam and Epic Games StoreWith support for other stores coming

With support for other stores coming

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Crossplay for PC is here | Game Development | Epic Online ServicesWatch on YouTube

Crossplay for PC is here | Game Development | Epic Online Services

Cover image for YouTube video

“Epic Online Services crossplay now works seamlessly on Steam and Epic Games Store, enabling Steam players to search from over half a billion friends, connect and play,” saysa post explaining the feature set on the Epic developer site.

If you employ Epic’s Crossplay tool in your game, then players can access an in-game overlay that puts their Steam friends (hundreds of people, for me) and Epic Games Store friends (literally just one person) all in one place. The two groups can then send game invites to one another and play together.

Interestingly, it sounds as if Steam players hopping into a game with an Epic Games Store player will have “an Epic Games account… created under the hood for their Steam account.” These “Epic Proxy accounts” can then becompleted with extra details later, if the user wishes. The cynical result, of course, is that games released via the Epic Games Store can access playerbases on more popular stores (Steam), while Epic Games Store also gets more users with half a foot into the Epic ecosystem. The non-cynical result is: cool, it’s easier to play games with pals.

The post also says that support for other digital storefronts is coming, along with Linux and MacOS support for desktop, and crossplay with consoles.