Consoles, PCs and mobile take a big step toward playing together, but it may leave some in the cold

The most popular video games are available everywhere and can be played on consoles like Xbox One or PlayStation 4 Gaming PCsand sometimes even on mobile devices like smartphones and iPads. Most of the time, however, Xbox and PS4 players cannot play directly with each other, with PC players, etc.

There are exceptions to this unwritten no-cross-play rule Fourteen days, Minecraft and Call of Duty: war zone, but not games like Overwatch and Apex Legends. But that could change soon.

Publisher Epic Games announced on Wednesday that it will make its Epic Online Services tools available to other developers so that more games can be played across platforms Crossplay.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? But although gamers have been asking about it for many years, it could actually be bad for your gaming experience, at least if you’re a console player.

Don’t get me wrong, the concept of crossplay is great. It enables friends to play on different platforms and enables a healthy online community where there is always someone to play with.

Still, there are three major issues with crossplay, at least from the perspective of a player who mainly plays on consoles.

In the beginning, PC players have an advantage in terms of control. A mouse and a keyboard always have priority over the controllers. There is simply no comparison between the two, even if a game offers aiming help to a person playing on a controller. The accuracy achieved with an entire hand that controls a gaming mouse far exceeds what can be done with a thumb on an analog stick.

Let’s not forget all the variations that come with a mouse and keyboard. There are gaming mice with multiple customizable buttons, different ergonomic designs to better fit a person’s hand, and ridiculously accurate optical sensors. Then there are the gaming keyboards with tactile feedback and more customizable keys.

Compare this to a PS4 or Xbox One controller that offers a minimal number of button layout options. The only upgrades available are elite versions with minor changes or Third party controllers with slightly faster buttons and additional triggers on the back. Both Consoles Supports a keyboard-mouse setup, but let’s face it, almost everyone plays with a controller.

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Then there is the hardware. A Mid-range gaming PC transfers more frames per second than an Xbox One or PS4 with a display with a higher refresh rate. This means that a PC player can see a console player a fraction of a second earlier than a console player can see them.

In addition, some PC games and monitors require performance settings to be reduced Entry delayThese are the milliseconds it takes to display a keystroke on the screen. While Some TVs have a similar option and optimized for games, Xbox One and PS4 are not.

The last and probably biggest problem is that PC fraud is widespread. There is an abundance of software that can be cheated on in any multiplayer game. Some of the most common are target bots that allow a scammer to shoot any weapon from anywhere and get perfect headshots every time.

Fourteen days and Call of Duty Warzone are two popular multiplayer games with cross-play and console players in both Communities have called for a stop to cross-platform matchmaking. You are the canary in the coal mine with crossplay issues, and developers need to be aware of this before opening the locks and allowing console players to drown. The developers of the games – Epic and Infinity Ward – are routine Ban Fraudsters, but the problem continues.

This is a plea for developers: if you want to add cross-play to your game, please keep consoles and PC players separate.