Why are Xbox players still being forced into crossplay with PC gamers?

Cal Jeffrey

Posts: 4,155   +1,416
Staff member
Be careful what you wish for: It used to be players begged for crossplay, and Sony was vilified for being the one holdout that would not allow it. Now that the trend favors cross-platform action, Sony seems to be the only one that has gotten it right.

In November, Xbox players were up in arms about the rampant cheating in Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode. They demanded that Microsoft or 343 Industries deal with the cheaters or allow a way to disable crossplay with PC players. Just days later, 343 acknowledged the problem and said cheaters would be "dealt with," but so far, little or nothing has been done, and the crossplay dilemma is coming to a head.

It's not just Halo Infinite that has a problem with cheaters. Call of Duty: Warzone has been plagued with aimbots and other hacks since nearly day one. This situation is not unique, of course. Most online multiplayer games have to contend with aimbots and other exploits. Free-to-play games are even more problematic since nothing stops cheaters from creating a new account when banned.

Furthermore, since those not playing fairly are almost exclusively PC players, it seems that adding a settings toggle to turn off crossplay would be a simple solution—at least for the console players. Indeed, Warzone recently added an option to disable crossplay, but it seems to be borked for Xbox.

With crossplay disabled, loading into a multiplayer game prompts players to turn on crossplay. On Xbox, users must enable crossplay to continue, while on PlayStation, players can dismiss the prompt and continue with crossplay disabled. It would appear that Microsoft wants its users intermixing between console and PC whether they wish to or not. Even though there are workarounds to disable crossplay globally, it creates other issues, including causing matchmaking to take forever (video below).

Users on Reddit, the Microsoft, Xbox, and Halo forums, and social media have made themselves clear that they are tired of what seems to be a forced situation exclusive to Xbox players.

"Can you please explain why an xbox player is still being forced to square off against PC players in COD Warzone?" one user asked in the Microsoft community forum. "Is this a you thing, or a them thing? I'd like to know who's holding the keys here, and why. I'm all for cross play against Playstation players, the advantages and disadvantages are the same - but this forced cross play thing is really not cool, especially when its optional for only the other platforms."

The stance Microsoft and Xbox seem to be taking with crossplay is counter to its past view. In 2016, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told Gamespot that Xbox players would never be forced to play with PC players because it would be unfair.

"I'll never force somebody in our games whose [sic] playing with a controller or a mouse and keyboard to play against somebody with a different control scheme," Spencer promised. "Mouse and keyboard rotation speed is faster than controller. We know that, you'll lose."

What happened to this attitude? Spencer's promise is something that has passed to the wayside as being not that important anymore. It is certainly not due to the developers finding it too hard to have an on/off switch for crossplay.

When Dice launched Battlefield 2042, crossplay was the only option for Xbox players, but PlayStation owners could disable it. After some complaining, the developer added the option to Xbox as well. It is unclear why it seems that Xbox is forcing the issue. If PlayStation owners can turn off the feature, why can't Xbox players?

TechSpot has reached out to Xbox for comment on the matter. We will update this article if we hear back.

Permalink to story.

 
Because MS wants to have cross platform ban lists so they can deal with all the naughty words! C'mon man, you guys just posted that article 2 hours ago.
That was a completely different context. Spencer was addressing toxicity rather than cheating. Plus as we know, bans don't stop cheaters.

EDIT: I had actually thought about linking that article in this one, but decided against it after reading it.
 
That was a completely different context. Spencer was addressing toxicity rather than cheating. Plus as we know, bans don't stop cheaters.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Your previous article answers this one: Why does MS force users to use crossplay? Why dont they stop hackers? Because their priority is "muh toxicity" and their goal is to push their ban lists on multiple platform sin pursuit of all the naughty people. If they were to allow people to turn crossplay off they couldnt force that ban list down your throat.
 
I'm pretty sure it's just up to the devs (for platforms that are not Playstation).
And it is a lot easier (less complicated) to not have to setup server filters based on crossplay preference...

...Though once setup for one platform, one would think it should also be easier to setup for other platforms too...
 
The two are not mutually exclusive. Your previous article answers this one: Why does MS force users to use crossplay? Why dont they stop hackers? Because their priority is "muh toxicity" and their goal is to push their ban lists on multiple platform sin pursuit of all the naughty people. If they were to allow people to turn crossplay off they couldnt force that ban list down your throat.
That's an unfounded assumption. Don't get me wrong. I get what you are saying, but that's still putting words in M$ mouth.
I'm pretty sure it's just up to the devs (for platforms that are not Playstation).
And it is a lot easier (less complicated) to not have to setup server filters based on crossplay preference...

...Though once setup for one platform, one would think it should also be easier to setup for other platforms too...
Yeah, for sure something can be done at the dev level. Dice did it with Battlefield, so it shouldn't be that complicated.
 
I'm pretty sure it's just up to the devs (for platforms that are not Playstation).
And it is a lot easier (less complicated) to not have to setup server filters based on crossplay preference...

...Though once setup for one platform, one would think it should also be easier to setup for other platforms too...
If it's a platform issue though there is not much devs can do without falling out of compliance. It's probably less a case of "devs cant" and rather "xbox publishing contract says devs cant".
That's an unfounded assumption. Don't get me wrong. I get what you are saying, but that's still putting words in M$ mouth.
I disagree that it is unfounded, as microsoft has made it very clear the last few years how much they hate naughty people, and have made several moves to further lock down their platform and punish those they deem unworthy.

MS, after spending the better part of 30 years screwing over customers, competitors, and their own workers, does not deserve the benefit of the doubt, especially in this industry where we have repeatedly seen companies treat comsumers like cattle and bend over backwards to please the loudest, most obnoxious attention seekers while ignoring real problems with their software. Their natural default is to screw over the consumer, when they dont it's rather noteworthy. This is a constant pattern of behaviour from them, and software companies in general.

sure, it may not be spoken out loud that the two are connected, but at this point I argue it is on MS to prove otherwise.

EDIT: in addendum, has anyone seen these rampant cheater in halo? I thought it would be a lot worse, I've really only seen one person I could argue was cheating, and he got banned mid game. I'm used to cheaters who cant die and/or are shooting through walls. I havent really seen that yet.
 
Thanks for this article.

Why was DICE able to quickly offer an option to disable crossplay on Xbox, while Halo and Warzone continue to have problems? I saw no mention of Microsoft in the source link regarding DICE's decision.

@Cal Jeffrey
lol You noticed it too.
 
iu


How many are actually cheating vs. using keyboard and mouse?
 
This doesn’t do anything at the end of the day. When there was no cross play, hacked consoles was rampant. If you could disable this feature and keep leaderboards separate you’ll see console hacks coming into light. At the end of the day developers need to develop better tools to detect cheating. Moving them from one place to another isn’t correcting the issue.
 
This doesn’t do anything at the end of the day. When there was no cross play, hacked consoles was rampant. If you could disable this feature and keep leaderboards separate you’ll see console hacks coming into light. At the end of the day developers need to develop better tools to detect cheating. Moving them from one place to another isn’t correcting the issue.

Exactly. You can buy an undetectable console cheater box for under $30 from all the usual suspects. Mouse and k/b adapters cost about the same or less..is that considered a cheat now? If so then maybe the problem is the antiquated controller designs.
 
Exactly. You can buy an undetectable console cheater box for under $30 from all the usual suspects. Mouse and k/b adapters cost about the same or less..is that considered a cheat now? If so then maybe the problem is the antiquated controller designs.
MnK are considered a cheat if the game doesn't support it.
 
Why have we TechSpot writing this as an "Opinion" and The Verge reporting this exact same thing on the exact same date? If this was news, it would be natural to see this same thing on multiple sites.

Maybe too sensitive this morning (or forgot to remove my tinfoil hat). Just wondering why these reportings and opinions are popping up on the same day.
 
If I was on an Xbox I’d love cross play since they basically get an aimbot by default with the insane amount of aim assist. I wish I could turn off cross play on the PC since the aim assist is way OP.
 
". Free-to-play games are even more problematic since nothing stops cheaters from creating a new account when banned."

Exactly, free to play is CRAP, the players have no skin the game.

Cheating in online games have been around since games went online. In society, there is a criminal element that seems to cover every aspect of life. The cheaters in games are no different than any other criminal - they are SCUM that ruin the gaming experience for everyone which is basically like stealing your money.
 
Only one gamw that keyboard and mouse warriors are at disadvantage and that is Rocket League. Only very few people could master it with those peripherals. Most are forced to buy xbox and ps controllers to be able to compete.

Let's gooo!

Ps: I play it on kb and mouse and I am just an average plat
 
If I was on an Xbox I’d love cross play since they basically get an aimbot by default with the insane amount of aim assist. I wish I could turn off cross play on the PC since the aim assist is way OP.
That was a huge issue on MCC. controler play VS KB/M was night and day difference.
The Toxic "master race" out from under their stones I see.
Imagine taking the "mustard race" joke seriously.
 
What I love most about this article is it is on a web page that tries to force you to watch a video about the article by automatically playing it without asking you when you’re on the webpage. Pot calling the kettle black.

Why are you trying to make me watch a video? I’m perfectly capable of pushing the button myself if I want to watch it rather than have it blast our suddenly in a public place. There is a problem of invasive “RUDENESS” across the entire industry in order to push views and sales. This rudeness is as infuriating as cheaters in video games…
 
The two are not mutually exclusive. Your previous article answers this one: Why does MS force users to use crossplay? Why dont they stop hackers? Because their priority is "muh toxicity" and their goal is to push their ban lists on multiple platform sin pursuit of all the naughty people. If they were to allow people to turn crossplay off they couldnt force that ban list down your throat.
they got that China money and dont want to let it go
 
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