Epic has released a new tool that enables Steam and Epic cross-play

The news was posted on the Epic Games website and reported on by PC Gamer. The post reads, “Today, we are launching a new cross-play tool for game developers—starting with PC. This service is the first in a series of plug-and-play cross-play services that give developers everything they need to connect their game and community across platforms and stores.”

The post then goes on to state that Epic Online Services works “seamlessly” on both Steam and Epic Game Store, with development to “natively support more PC stores” being underway, along with “macOS and Linux support for desktop”, and cross-play support on console stated to be coming later.

Epic Online Services also includes an overlay that merges Steam and Epic friends list, making it easier to view friends on both platforms. It also comes with an interface to search for friends, send and receive friend requests, and join multiplayer sessions across the storefronts.

Senior Director of Online Services at Epic Games, Simon Alleays, celebrated the tool along with Epic’s recent cross-play efforts: “We are in the fortunate position to drive change in the industry with cross-play tools for all developers and we believe that connecting friends and communities will take the gaming industry to its next major growth spurt and its next billion players.”

This comes on the heels of Epic bringing cross-play to popular multiplayer titles such as Fortnite, Rocket League, and Fall Guys.

In other news, Frostpunk publisher, 11 Bit Studios, has announced a new project currently titled Project Vitriol. It comes from Fools Theory, a developer comprised of AAA developers who had previously worked on The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.