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Overwatch adds crossplay today alongside new Ashe challenge

Friends from all platforms can now get together for casual rounds of Overwatch. Competitive players may want to read on for more details.

Ozzie Mejia

June 22, 2021 11:00 AM

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There's a lot to be excited about for fans of Overwatch. One of the more immediate items on Blizzard's agenda has been the implementation of cross-platform play across all of the game's platforms. While a Cross-Play Beta was announced earlier this month, there was no date for its launch. That's no longer the case, as Overwatch is officially getting cross-platform play today just in time for a new challenge centered around Ashe.

Overwatch first announced the Cross-Play Beta two weeks ago. Blizzard noted that it would be powered by an all-new Battle.net update, which would merge friends list from across different territories. Now that this Battle.net update is a few weeks old, crossplay is rollilng out, albeit with a few caveats. All four of Overwatch's platforms can get together for Quick Play, Arcade, and Custom games. PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch owners can jump into Competitive lobbies and play with each other. Meanwhile, PC players who are playing competitive ranked matches will only be matched up with other PC players. The reason for that, as noted on the original announcement from the Overwatch website, is because of the console version's aim-assist feature.

The Cross-Play Beta comes alongside the new Ashe's Deadlock Challenge event. This is centered around outlaw ne'er-do-well Ashe and will give players a chance to earn some exclusive items. Play nine games to earn a new player icon. Play 18 games for a new spray. Finally, play 27 games for a new Legendary skin, which will offer new looks to both Ashe and Omnic sidekick B.O.B. If you win any of your games, that will count as two games played, so there's some incentive to rack up victories and cut your objective time in half.

Ashe's Deadlock Challenge will run from now through Monday, July 5. Meanwhile, it's a certainty that Blizzard will be monitoring the launch of crossplay across all platforms, looking out for any potential snags. If there are any major hitches, we'll report on them here at Shacknews. In the meantime, brush up on the latest additions to Blizzard's shooter from the Overwatch website.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?