The release of the third-person action-RPGDungeons and Dragons: Dark Allianceis just two months away, but Wizards of the Coast is still building up momentum in its pre-launch marketing. Many details about the unique game, which stars many of theDungeons and Dragonsuniverse’s most notable heroes, remain left to be fleshed out. Today, one key aspect ofDungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliancehas been confirmed, that being the whether it supports cross-play or cross-gen play.
In an official Q&A session with developer Tunque Games, a question was asked as to whetherDungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliancewould support cross-play. The response was in the affirmative, however it was quickly apparent that the correct definition of “cross-play” wasn’t what the developer discussed. The response confirmedDungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliancewould support cross-play between PS4 and PS5, between Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and cross-play betweenSteam and the Epic Games Storeindividually.
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In other words,Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliancedoes not supportcross-play,but it does, at the very least, support cross-gen play so PlayStation users can join with other players, and Xbox players with Xbox. PC players naturally assume they’ll be able to play with other PC players, as a decision not to support a one-platform PC community would be news in-and-of itself.
Cross-play is the ability to play with those on entirely different platform ecosystems; if PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players could all play together. It’s an increasingly popular feature, but games the size ofDungeons and Dragons: Dark Allianceoften pass up on including it.Persuading Sony to allow cross-playwithout being a hugely successful game is challenging, though the lack of PC and Xbox cross-play implies this was an issue of time and resources.
Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliancesupporting cross-play would have been a welcomed feature, however. The action-RPG is built aroundfour-player cooperative online multiplayer. Being able to fill out a squad with friends regardless of platform would have been a huge boon. The lack of local co-op support also limits players' options.
Wizards of the Coast’s decision to leave out cross-play is understandably disappointing to many looking forward to the game. Perhaps if players continue requesting the feature, and ifDungeons and Dragons: Dark Allianceis successful enough to justify significantpost-launch support, the feature can be added following its release.
Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliancereleases June 22 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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