Respawn Entertainment will turn on cross-play as the default matchmaking option for Apex Legends players on US-West servers starting October 7, according to the studio’s update posted to Steam on October 6.
The change is part of a matchmaking test rather than a permanent switch. Beginning at approximately 10am PT, cross-play becomes the default setting for all players across every console on the US-West server cluster. The test is limited to the US-West region, so players elsewhere keep their current matchmaking settings for now. Respawn says the test is meant to shorten queue times and tighten matchmaking skill bands, so lobbies fill faster and players meet opponents closer to their own ability level.
How the cross-play test works
Cross-play lets players on different platforms share the same matchmaking pool, and Apex Legends already supports the feature across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Skill bands are the matchmaking rating brackets used to group players of similar ability, so tightening them should produce closer, more even matches. During the test, console players in the US-West region are placed into cross-platform lobbies by default, but they can opt out at any time by turning off cross-play in the settings menu.
The test is scheduled to run until the current season ends on November 3. The focus on queue times and skill matching continues work the studio has done in recent weeks. In late September, Respawn flagged matchmaking issues alongside the rollout of EA Javelin anticheat, and this US-West test is the next step in that effort.
Two bug fixes in the same update
The October 6 update also ships two fixes. The first addresses missing floor geometry in the Terraformer area of Broken Moon, a map location where players were able to clip into the ground. The second stops Gibraltar’s skydive emote audio from continuing to play after the Legend lands.
The cross-play test follows the October 2 hotfix that resolved a Steam settings reset bug and tuned the Fast Draw Wild Card perk. Respawn announced the matchmaking test one day before it begins, with the details appearing in the studio’s October 6 patch notes on Steam.
