Why We Built a Crossplay Checker (And How It Actually Works)

"Crossplay supported" doesn't mean what you think it means

Go to any game's store page and look for crossplay information. If you're lucky, you'll find a small icon or a line in the description that says "crossplay supported." Great. But what does that actually mean?

Does it mean PC can play with PS5? Or just PS5 with Xbox? Does it mean full crossplay in all modes, or only in certain playlists? Does it work between PC and Nintendo Switch, or is that combination quietly excluded?

The answer changes from game to game, and almost nobody spells it out clearly. Marketing teams slap "crossplay" on a store page and call it a day. Meanwhile, your friend on Xbox is wondering why they can't join your lobby.

The problem we kept running into

We built PickThe.Games because our own friend groups were spread across platforms. Every time someone suggested a new game, the first question was always the same: "Can I play that with you?"

Finding the answer meant checking Reddit threads, Steam community posts, and forum FAQs that may or may not be up to date. Half the time, the answer was "sort of" or "it used to work but they removed it." That's not helpful when you're trying to make a decision in the group chat at 8pm on a Friday.

How our crossplay checker works

Instead of a simple yes-or-no flag, we track crossplay per platform pair. Every game in our database has a crossplay status for each combination: PC to PS5, PC to Xbox, PC to Switch, PS5 to Xbox, PS5 to Switch, and Xbox to Switch. Each pair can be marked as supported, not supported, or unknown.

That means when you check a game on PickThe.Games, you see exactly which combinations work. A game might support crossplay between PS5 and Xbox but not between either console and PC. Our tool shows that distinction instead of hiding it behind a generic label.

You can check specific platform pairs directly. PC and PS5 crossplay games. PC and Xbox. PS5 and Xbox. Each page shows every game where that specific combination is confirmed.

Where the data comes from

Our base data pulls from IGDB, the game database maintained by Twitch. IGDB has solid platform and multiplayer information, but crossplay data is often incomplete or missing entirely. That's the starting point, not the final answer.

On top of that, we rely on manual verification and community corrections. When someone reports that a game's crossplay status is wrong, we check it and update the listing. Developers and publishers can also contact us directly to confirm or correct their game's crossplay information.

The result is a database that gets more accurate over time. It's not perfect. Some games are still marked as "unknown" for certain platform pairs. But it's a lot better than guessing.

Why this matters for your group

If everyone in your group is on the same platform, none of this matters. But most groups aren't that tidy. Someone has a PC. Someone has a PS5. Someone just bought a Switch 2. The overlap between platforms determines what you can play together, and crossplay data is the key to finding that overlap.

That's why we built the crossplay checker. It's the tool we wished existed when we were spending 20 minutes every Friday night researching whether a game actually worked for everyone.