ESO crossplay is something Zenimax “really wants to do” in the future

Ever since The Elder Scrolls Online came to consoles, players have been calling for crossplay. Fellow longstanding MMOs like Final Fantasy 14, Warframe, and New World: Aeternum all feature the ability to play across PC and console, and I’ve found that it’s always a massive boon to the experience. So why isn’t it in ESO yet? This is something Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller asked the game’s developers during a multi-part ESO podcast series, and it turns out Zenimax is hopeful to have it working one day.

2025 is a transformative time for The Elder Scrolls Online, and crossplay would be a huge boon for the MMO‘s community. This year we’re getting a new subclass system, a return to the game’s original narrative with Seasons of the Worm Cult, and a revamped release model. It’s the perfect time to give ESO a shot, then, but you’ll still have trouble playing with friends on different platforms. That’s why Miller asks ESO game director Rich Lambert and Zenimax Online Studios head Matt Firor why crossplay isn’t in the game yet, and whether it ever will be.

“Anything is possible,” Lambert begins. “We’re working on doing some underlying tech changes that would make it possible,” Firor adds. “We know how important it is. Starting work on this game in 2007, [we] didn’t even think about two platforms, much less six or whatever we support now.”

As for Microsoft’s focus on making anything an Xbox, Firor says “That actually makes it easier now. That whole concept, the ‘this is an Xbox’ thing, because that philosophy now comes from the top. That makes it easier to get the agreements done to do what you need to do crossplay.

“It’s something we know about, and something we really want to do. We’re working on the underlying tech for it, and we’ll see if we can make it happen.”

While that’s not an outright promise that ESO crossplay is coming anytime soon, it’s nice to hear that the team at Zenimax is actively looking at ways to make the feature work. With the studio revamping the MMO for the better in 2025, an eventual crossplay feature would go a long way to inviting even more people to play. Whether it’ll actually happen, however, remains to be seen.

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