Arena Breakout Infinite Will NOT Have Crossplay Between PC and Console

Key Takeaways

Arena Breakout Infinite won’t have cross-play between console and PC, despite a 50/50 poll split on the issue.
The decision may disappoint PC players wanting to game with friends on other platforms, but it’s final.
Other successful games like Hunt: Showdown and Valorant also prioritize platform fairness over crossplay.

Arena Breakout Infinite is playable on PC in Early Access and is scheduled for a release on all platforms at the end of the year. The news was dropped along with a a smart trailer revealed at Gamescom.

While arguably a smaller announcement compared to many heavy hitters at the event, it’s a big deal for Extraction Shooter fans.

Fairness and cross-platform functionality are always questioned with announcements like this, and thanks to a recent poll, we now have the developer’s stance.

The official Arena Breakout Infinite account on X posted a poll on August 21st asking, “Crossplay between console and PC or not?”

After two days and over 11,000 votes, the polls show 47.1% in favor of crossplay and 48.3% against.

Counter-Strike 2: All Competitive Maps, Ranked

Do Counter-Strike 2’s maps hold up to its predecessor? We rank every competitive map in CS2, from worst to best.

Even with an almost 50/50 split, the team promptly announced that there would not be crossplay between console and PC platforms. This means PlayStation and Xbox players can play together, separate from the PC player base.

As the message is so short, it doesn’t answer any community questions regarding controllers on PC or how accounts will work across platforms.

In the short term, it does put a big dent in the plans of PC players who want to play with their console buddies.

Is No Crossplay Good Or Bad For Arena Breakout Infinite?

Based on the poll results, crossplay is clearly a contentious topic, and both sides have valid points.

On the one hand, crossplay allows friends to enjoy a game together regardless of platform or what they use to play.

On the other hand, it can be a balancing nightmare. Controller users typically require Aim Assist to keep up with Keyboard and Mouse players. Nobody likes to feel they lost a battle because their opponent had a hardware advantage.

The replies contain many emotionally charged responses to the announcement. In truth, nobody knows if the lack of crossplay will affect Arena Breakout Infinite, but we can look at similar titles for insight.

Hunt: Showdown has been successful for many years and employs the same restrictions Arena Breakout Infinite proposes. While crossplay between consoles is allowed, the PC and console player bases are kept separate.

On that note, Valorant by Riot Games is the same, with no crossplay support. Interestingly, their Console support page even states it’s “because fair play is a cornerstone of competitive gaming.”

Call of Duty supports crossplay across all platforms, but in this example, most players use a controller, even at the pro level.

As Arena Breakout Infinite shares many similarities to Escape From Tarkov, many will point to that title, which is doing well, is PC exclusive, and isn’t even on Steam.

While the announcement is pretty definitive, the Arena Breakout Infinite team is active on social media and frequently answers questions.

If this decision was really made based on a poll, players may see many more changes before the full release.