Does Apex Legends have cross-progression on PlayStation, Xbox, PC & Switch?

The Apex Legends community has voiced its desire for cross-progression. Whether you’re gaming on the PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC, we’ve got the lowdown on Apex’s cross-progression.

Essentially, it unifies your gaming account across platforms, so items like skins, heirlooms, and your progression are accessible regardless of your device.

Apex Legends players have been requesting cross-progression for years, as the battle royale is now available on everything from Steam to Nintendo Switch, and many players have both PC and console.

However, despite it being so heavily requested, cross-progression in Apex is not like in many other games. Here’s everything we know about cross-progression in Apex Legends.

Is there cross-progression in Apex Legends?

No, cross-progression is not available for Apex Legends between PC and Console, PC and Switch, or Console and Switch. This means, for example, if you have an account on Xbox or PlayStation, you cannot use this same account on the PC version, and vice-versa.

However, players on PC do have cross-progression on the PC platform alone. If you play Apex on Origin/EA App, you can link your account to Steam account and carry your progress over. Similarly, you can carry your progress from previous console generations (e.g. PS4 to PS5).

But, the same cannot be said for cross-progression between PlayStation 4/5 and the Xbox lineup of consoles, or Nintendo Switch. There is no way to transfer your Apex Legends account between these different platforms. This is unlike Apex’s competitors Warzone and Fortnite, which have full cross-platform progression.

Respawn said the reason for this is because it was “easier (to implement cross-progression) with Steam because it’s at launch,” unlike merging saves between Xbox and PlayStation accounts seeing as “users may have multiple accounts to merge or use,” according to former Game Director Chad Grenier.

This is a glaring omission for one of the most popular battle royales on the market. And it isn’t lost on the developers, either.

When is cross-progression coming to Apex Legends?

Cross-progression is now delayed, Respawn has confirmed. Despite previously stating that cross-progression would be added in 2022, clearly, this didn’t happen.

However, there is still some hope that cross-progression could arrive in 2023 instead.

At the start of Season 18, data miners found new hints towards cross-progression development in the game files. Specifically, two strings which read: “CrossProgression_QueryUserMigrateStatusIfNeeded” and “CrossProgression_IsRequestingUserMigrateStatus”.

But, of course, cross-progression has not been added in Season 18, so potentially these are preparations for a Season 19 release, which is likely the final season of the year.

At the Season 15 press event, game director Evan Nikolich said they still “definitely” want to add cross-progression, but it is very technically challenging, meaning they cannot commit to a release date.

Respawn has touched on the topic of cross-progression on a number of occasions and confirmed that Apex Legends will have cross-progression in the future.

In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, Apex Legends game director Steven Ferreira answered the infamous cross-progression question.

“We’re definitely excited about cross-progression coming. It was trickier than expected, and we want to ensure it’s ready. Also, because you only get one crack at rolling something like this out.”

Ferreira expanded on this, explaining that there are different ways that cross-progression can be implemented and that they “want to set it up the way we want it.

“I don’t have a definitive date, but it’s definitely coming.”

At the launch of Season 17, Respawn once again reaffirmed their commitment to adding cross-progression, explaining they have a Slack group where they discuss it regularly. But, they haven’t put a date on it, presumably to avoid setting any expectations.

Apex Legends is now in Season 18, and there is still no confirmation about when cross-progression will arrive. But, we do know that Respawn is working on it, and so are simply waiting on an announcement.

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