In Season 19, Respawn Entertainment is introducing crossprogression features to its battle royale Apex Legends. It’s been a long time coming, so to say we’re thrilled would be an understatement – and we’re not alone in that sentiment, either. However, one thing PS5 players – and those of you playing on Xbox consoles – should know is that there will be Apex Legends crossprogression restrictions in place when it arrives. That means, some of the content you have won’t be available everywhere.
Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends is one of the best battle royale games out there; you could argue it’s one of the best FPS games, regardless of genre, on PS5 and Xbox too. However, Apex Legends’ crossprogression – a feature its peers (like Call of Duty and Fortnite) have and have had for years – has been a thorn in the developer’s side for some time now. Something you could argue has been holding it back. Thankfully, though, that’s all changing in Season 19 with players everywhere being phased into a new crossprogression system in the coming weeks.
Although, there are some things that just won’t count when it comes to this new crossprogression system. So, if you’re planning on jumping from PS5 to another platform – or vice versa, of course – it’s worth knowing what to expect and what you might find is missing from Apex Legends when you do.
As Respawn Entertainment’s crossprogression blog post explains, Apex Legends players with platform exclusive content (like PS Plus packs or the Xbox Founder’s Edition cosmetics) will not be able to access that content on other platforms. In a similar fashion, the P.A.T.H. legendary skin for Pathfinder (which was a Switch exclusive when the game launched there) will not be available on other platforms.
In addition to this, any Apex Coins bought or earned for the Nintendo Switch version of Apex Legends will only be available for the Nintendo Switch version of the game. PS5, Xbox, and PC players will see their Apex Coins shared, though, when crossprogression is rolled out. Those of you climbing Apex Legends’ ranks will also find the Ranked Leaderboards are separate for each platform – and this means that some stat-based Badges will be restricted and not carry over.
You can’t opt out from all of this, so there’s no getting around these limitations sadly. However, anything you buy with Apex Coins on the Nintendo Switch version of the game will be available on other platforms (provided it isn’t a Nintendo Switch exclusive) – just to clarify. So, any coins you have there won’t be totally wasted when this arrives, if you’re looking to jump onto another platform.
We don’t know what this will mean, however, if you have PlayStation platform exclusive content equipped and you boot up Apex Legends on your PC (or Xbox, or PC, or even your Switch). We can imagine it will just be absent from the game and your cosmetics returned to the relevant default options. All your unlocked legends and non-exclusive cosmetics will carry over, though, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Although, you’re not going to get any refunds if you have duplicates. So, maybe hold off on buying any new Apex Legends characters or cosmetics until crossprogression arrives fully.
That being said, you should try to get newcomer Conduit as soon as you can. This trailer showcasing Apex Legends’ Conduit abilities shows just how good she’s going to be. With the ability to bolster shields and slow enemies, this is one Support we can see debuting quite highly on our Apex Legends tier list when the Apex Legends Season 19 release date rolls around.