Hi-Rez Studios believes gamers should be able to play with their friends -- and access their content -- regardless of what platform they play on.
We are incredibly excited to be at the forefront of this great cross-platform movement. As we are among the first developers to offer cross-platform play and progression, we are still defining best practices hand-in-hand with platform providers.
As we are several months from the launch of cross-platform play and progression, the content of this FAQ is still an early draft. Certain details may be adjusted as we move closer to launch, both to address technical concerns and improve the cross-platform experience for our players.
Cross-play and cross-progression will go live with the 2.01 update for Paladins, and the 6.1 update for SMITE. Both of these updates are currently scheduled to release in mid-to-late January 2019.
Realm Royale will support cross-play from day 1 of release. Cross-progression will be added to Realm Royale at a later date.
Yes! We will be adding cross-platform voice chat to SMITE and Paladins alongside our cross-play system. Cross-platform voice chat will be added to Realm Royale at a later date.
No! Our new technology will allow for environments to be updated at separate times.
Note: If one platform is updated before others, cross-play between those platforms will be disabled until they are back on the same version.
In 2019 we will continue to support separate and dedicated SMITE and Paladins esports leagues on PC and Console.
Unfortunately, yes. Both Paladins and SMITE will experience a roughly 24 hour downtime while we merge our cross-platform player databases.
The Paladins downtime is tentatively scheduled for the week of December 3, and the SMITE downtime is scheduled for the week of December 10.
Follow our social media for more updates on this downtime.
You will be able to report players just like you do today, regardless of platform.
Yes! For cross-play platforms, there will be a global, cross-platform leaderboard.
As players will be able to move freely from across platforms and input methods on a single account, all players will be tracked on the same leaderboard regardless of their main platform or control scheme.
Cross-play will be supported across PC launcher, PC and Mac Steam, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
We are technically ready to support cross-play on other platforms as the opportunity arises.
No! You will be able to play on any platform without first creating a Hi-Rez Account.
By default, casual matchmaking will find the best matches for players regardless of platform or input method.
SMITE and Paladins players can choose to play only against players with the same input method (either keyboard and mouse, or controller) in casual matches. However, players will find higher quality matches, more quickly, by leaving cross-input matchmaking enabled.
SMITE and Paladins ranked matchmaking will be divided strictly by input method. Players will only ever play against other players using the same input method in ranked.
Realm Royale players will always be placed in cross-platform matchmaking.
Yes!
Note: If you have both controller and keyboard and mouse users in your party, your party will queue for cross-input matchmaking regardless of player preferences. You cannot play ranked matches with cross-input parties.
Yes! We will be adding mouse and keyboard support to Xbox One alongside the launch of cross-play. We intend to add mouse and keyboard support to other platforms which support that input method as they join our cross-play environment.
Note: You will not be able to shift input method during a match. If you start a match on controller, you will not be allowed to plug in a mouse and keyboard -- or vice versa.
By linking your separate platform accounts to a Hi-Rez Account, you will effectively have one account across PC launcher, PC and Mac Steam, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. We are technically ready to support cross-progression on other platforms as the opportunity arises.
Some platform specific skins, containing the Xbox logo for example, may not be available on every platform. Additionally, some items contained in DLC bundles may only be available on the platform where the DLC was purchased, due to platform requirements.
I play on multiple platforms. How will you treat my separate progress and purchases on different platforms?
When cross-progression is enabled, we will merge your owned content across platform accounts linked with your Hi-Rez Account, in accordance with platform provider policies.
I bought the same thing on multiple different platforms. Will I get a refund when accounts are merged?
No. Given the myriad different ways players can acquire content in our games (free Gems and Crystals, gifts, chest rolls, direct purchase, sales, etc.), we cannot accurately determine how to credit players.
Yes. Your content will only be available across platform accounts that are linked with your Hi-Rez Account.
Due to this requirement, there is a chance that Nintendo Switch purchases and progress will not be included in cross-progression at the launch of our system. We are still finalizing the account linking process for Nintendo Switch, and Switch will be added to cross-progression as soon as account linking is fully implemented.
You can only link one account per type to a Hi-Rez Account. For example, you can link a Microsoft Account and a Steam Account to a Hi-Rez Account, but you may not link two Steam Accounts to a Hi-Rez Account.