Crossplay Will Be Available for 'Apex Legends' on the Nintendo Switch

At long last, popular first-person shooter game Apex Legends is finally making its way to the Nintendo Switch. Another battle royale game, Apex Legends features a cast of interesting characters with special abilities and backstories, making it one of the more appealing first-person shooter options on the market right now.

The title's base game is set to release on the Switch on March 9 (for free, just like on other platforms). Will Apex Legends support crossplay on the Nintendo Switch? And what about cross-progression?

Luckily for players, Apex Legends has been beta testing crossplay since October 2020, allowing players to play with their friends across consoles. This feature was initially implemented for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and EA desktop versions, though it will reportedly also be coming to the Nintendo Switch edition of the game.

According to the game's support page, the crossplay option should be automatically enabled, though if you're having issues, check to make sure it's turned on.

To do this, go to the Game Menu, select "Settings," and make sure "Cross Platform Play (Beta)" is enabled. You can also turn it off here if you don't want to play with players from other platforms.

Make sure to add your friends in-game if they're playing on other platforms. This can be done by going to the Friends menu and selecting "Find Friends." Enter their username to add them. On your friends list, you can also see what platform they are playing on.

Once you've added your friends in-game, you can play as you usually would with your same-platform friends, competing in duos or triples together.

One of the long-awaited features players have been asking for is cross-progression play. For those who play Apex Legends on more than one platform, your progress doesn't transfer from one platform to another. When EA brought the title to Steam, those who had played through Origin were able to implement cross-progression between the two platforms, but it has yet to be brought to the game's other platforms.

According to Game Director Chad Grenier, cross-platform progression was something they feel “very passionate about,” but it's "not something we can just turn on."

Unfortunately, while the title's release on the Switch offers another platform for players to experience Apex Legends on, there are no concrete plans for cross-progression to be supported at this time.

That being said, the developers have made it clear it's in their plans for the game's future. Now that the game is available on multiple platforms, it's possible this development will hit games in the near future.

If you're planning to play Apex Legends on your Nintendo Switch and are disappointed that you'll lose all of your hard-earned skins, you can wait for the Champion Edition of the game to launch on March 18, which will feature new and exclusive skins for $39.99.