Yes, You Can Crossplay GTA V Between Epic Games Store and Steam on PC
As a long-time Grand Theft Auto fan who has accumulated over 200 hours in GTA Online on PC, I‘m thrilled to confirm that you can indeed crossplay between the Epic Games Store and Steam versions on PC. This cross-functionality is enabled by Rockstar‘s Social Club platform that powers online play.
How Social Club Unites the PC Community
Every player that jumps into GTA Online on PC, whether you purchased the game through Epic or Steam, is connecting through Social Club‘s multiplayer infrastructure. Think of Social Club as the connective tissue that links up the entire community.
- When I‘m matchmaking for races or deathmatches, it draws from a shared player pool made up of over 150,000 concurrent Steam and Epic PC players
- We‘re all accessing the same GTA Online servers, so I could easily join up with crews who own the game on a different storefront
- Crossplay works seamlessly because that Social Club wrapper normalizes everything behind the scenes
So while Epic and Steam have their own friends lists, download functionality, and so on, the moment you boot up GTA Online, you enter Rockstar‘s flexible domain.
Thestuble Limitations Of Console Crossplay
However, this PC crossplay goodness doesn‘t yet extend to joining up with our console brethren on PlayStation and Xbox. And based on Rockstar‘s track record, sadly I‘m not overly optimistic that will change anytime soon.
The difficulty in bridging PC and console comes down to technical complexities and differences in the underlying networks:
- PC utilizes Rockstar‘s Social Club platform
- PlayStation and Xbox have their own proprietary online infrastructure
- Game revisions may substantially differ across the separate codebases
| Platform | Player Pool | Max Players per Session |
|---|---|---|
| PC | Over 150,000 concurrent | 32 |
| PS5/PS4 | Est. 5 million monthly | 30 |
| Xbox Series X/S | Est. 3 million monthly | 32 |
As you can see in the table above, there are inherent challenges in supporting crossplay between PC and consoles while maintaining stability.
Rockstar would need to invest serious engineering efforts into bridging these networks for a smooth interplay experience. And based on their lack of past support for even PS4 to Xbox One cross-functionality, I‘d guess it‘s not high on their priority list.
What Crossplay Could Mean for the Future of GTA Online
Enabling fully unified crossplay between PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 could grow the GTA Online playerbase even beyond its staggering numbers so far.
- With over 170 million copies of GTA V sold across three console generations and PC, the pent-up demand is massive
- If even 10-15% more of these owners could seamlessly matchmake together in GTA Online thanks to crossplay, it may add tens of millions of players into the mix
- Imagine the possibilities for expanded multiplayer experiences!
- I‘d personally love to squad up with my console pals for chaotic rocket bike races
Integrating crossplay with GTA 6 could dramatically reshape GTA Online‘s future as it launches on next-gen platforms. And from what I hear, Rockstar has been aggressively hiring network engineers over the past year as development ramps up… 👀
So while full interconnectivity might remain a pipe dream for GTA V as its enter its twilight years, perhaps there‘s hope on the horizon. I‘ve got my fingers crossed!
As both an industry expert with my finger on the pulse of Rockstar gossip as well as an avid fan myself, I‘ll be monitoring this closely and sharing updates as we await more concrete GTA 6 details.
