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Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform? Find out here

December 24, 2024

December 24, 2024

4 minutes

Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform? This is a question many players ask when considering whether they can team up with friends on different platforms. The answer, as well as how to play ESO crossplay, depends on the game’s policies and the platform restrictions.

If you are wondering “Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform?”, this complete ESO cross-platform guide will explore everything you need to know, from supported platforms to the mechanics of crossplay in The Elder Scrolls Online.

Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform? Find out here

Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform?

Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform? As of now, The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is not fully cross-platform. However, it does support cross-play within certain platforms. This is a breakdown:

  • Cross-play: players on PC/Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox can play together, but there’s a significant caveat. The game allows cross-play within the same platform family. For example, PC players can play with other PC players, and Xbox players can play with other Xbox players. Similarly, PS4/PS5 players can play with others on PlayStation consoles.
  • Cross-platform: full cross-platform play, meaning a PC player playing with a PS4 player or an Xbox player, is not available due to platform-specific restrictions and policies.

Platforms ESO supports

The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is available on a variety of platforms, allowing players to enjoy the game across different systems. These are the platforms that ESO supports:

  • PC/Mac: ESO is available for Windows PC and Mac OS, offering the most feature-rich experience with full mod support and frequent updates.
  • PlayStation: PlayStation 4 (PS4) and PlayStation 5 (PS5) are supported, allowing players to join the ESO community on Sony’s consoles.
  • Xbox: Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players can access ESO. The game supports the latest generation of consoles, ensuring an enhanced experience.

How to connect with players on other platforms?

In The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), connecting with players on other platforms can be a bit tricky due to the lack of full cross-platform play. However, there are still ways to interact with players across different systems, especially within the same platform family. This is how you can connect with players from other platforms:

1. Cross-play within platform families

ESO allows cross-play, but only between players on the same platform family:

  • PC and Mac players can play together.
  • Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players can play together.
  • PS4 and PS5 players can play together.

So, if you and your friends are on the same console brand (e.g., all Xbox players or all PlayStation players), you can connect and play together without issue. Similarly, PC players can join other PC players.

2. Creating a guild

Another way to connect with players across different platforms (as long as they’re in the same platform family) is by creating a guild. Once you’ve created or joined a guild, you can chat, trade, and interact with other members, even if they’re on a different platform within the same family. This can help you form groups for quests or other in-game activities.

3. Friends list (platform-specific)

Although full cross-platform play isn’t supported, you can still add players from other platforms to your friends list, but you must be on the same platform family. If you’re on PlayStation, for instance, you can add other PlayStation players to your friends list and invite them to join your game.

4. Voice and text communication

Even if you are unable to play directly with players on other platforms, you can still communicate using voice chat or text chat. ESO has in-game chat systems where you can send messages to players, and you can also use third-party voice chat apps like Discord to coordinate with friends on other platforms.

5. Future updates

ESO developers (Zenimax Online Studios) may introduce more cross-platform features in the future, so it’s important to stay updated with announcements to see if full cross-platform play becomes available.

Cross-platform limitations

Cross-platform play in The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is limited to specific platform families:

  • No full cross-platform play: ESO only allows cross-play within the same platform family (PC/Mac, Xbox, PlayStation). PC players can’t play with PS4 or Xbox players.
  • Separate servers: players on different platforms are on separate servers, meaning Xbox players can’t interact with PlayStation or PC players.
  • No shared progression: your progress and items don’t transfer between platforms, so switching platforms requires starting fresh.
  • Platform-specific restrictions: different platforms have their own policies, making cross-play more restrictive, especially with PlayStation.

Future updates on crossplay

As of now, The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) does not support full cross-platform play, but future updates could change this. 

While there hasn’t been any official confirmation of full crossplay across all platforms (e.g., PC, Xbox, and PlayStation), ESO developers (Zenimax Online Studios) frequently update the game, and there’s always a possibility that they could expand crossplay features. 

These are possible future updates on crossplay:

  • Broader cross-platform play: developers might expand the crossplay feature to include more platforms, allowing players from different console families (e.g., PlayStation players with Xbox players, or PlayStation with PC) to play together.
  • Cross-progression: there’s potential for cross-progression (carrying over progress across platforms) to be introduced, which would allow players to switch between platforms without losing their progress.
  • Cross-platform guilds and marketplaces: future updates could allow guilds and marketplaces to include members and items from different platforms, expanding the social and economic aspects of the game.

Is The Elder Scrolls Online cross-platform? Now that you know the answer to this question, to enhance your cross-platform experience in ESO, using tools like ExitLag can help improve your connection and reduce latency, making it easier to enjoy the game regardless of your platform.

About The Author

Leandro Sandmann, graduated in Computer Science from FEI, is the co-founder of ExitLag, a company created to improve stability and internet connections for online games. He has been sharing his knowledge about games and technology through various channels, contributing to the Blog's articles.

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