First launched back in May of 2022, Epic Online services have just added a major new feature with the release of the EOS 1.15 SDK, PC cross play. This will enable games using Epic Online Services to support a hybrid friends list, enabling Steam players to see and play with Epic Game Store players and vice versa. Currently Crossplay only supports these two stores and PC only, but other stores as well as Linux and Mac platform versions are currently in the works. Online services are engine and language agnostic with support for Unreal Engine, Unity, the Godot game engine and more on a variety of platforms.
Features of new cross play include:
- All friends, one place. Steam and Epic Games Store friends merge into one overlay allowing players to see all friends in a single list.
- Integrated game invites. In-game, players can search and send invites to friends across Steam and the Epic Games Store, making connecting and playing together easy.
- Account linking. Onboarding without emails or password prompts. With just a few clicks, Steam players can jump into a game while an Epic Games account is created under the hood for their Steam account.
- Update-free improvements. When games are installed, the crossplay features are distributed via a self-updating in-game overlay. Players can enjoy new features and improvements without needing to update anything themselves.
- Plug-and-play SDK. Each Epic Online Services toolset is self-contained, so developers can mix and match the services they want to implement, incorporate the things they want, and leave the rest. Crossplay tools are no different.
Key Links
Epic Online Services 1.15 and Crossplay Announcement
You can learn more about Epic Online Services and the new cross play feature in the 1.15 SDK in the video below.