With Destiny 2 coming to Google Stadia, some players may have been hoping that it would allow cross-platform play with players on PC. After all, Stadia is basically running the PC version of the game. However, Bungie has stated that the Destiny 2 Stadia version won’t have PC cross-play when it launches later this year.
In a newly released FAQ for the Stadia version of Destiny 2, Bungie confirmed that players on Google’s cloud platform will only be able to play with each other. They will not be able to play with their peers on PC.
Following up on this, Destiny General Manager Mark Noseworthy mentioned on Twitter that there was no technical reason for this. Google also has no policy in place that’s preventing cross-play with PC. Instead, he simply stated that the Destiny 2 team is focusing on getting cross-platform save games first. That said, he stated that Bungie would like to add cross-platform play in the future.
“We’ve already mentioned that we’d love to bring cross-play to Destiny 2,” he stated. “There’s no policy or technological barrier preventing us from including Stadia. We’d be looking to include every platform. This year though, we’re focused on delivering cross-save to all platforms.”
Destiny 2 is one of the biggest games coming to Google’s nascent cloud gaming service. As an incentive for players to subscribe, every Stadia Pro Subscription will come with a free copy of Destiny 2: The Collection. This collection includes every bit of additional Destiny 2 content released so far, including both Annual Passes, as well as the Forsaken and Shadowkeep expansions. The latter was announced at the same time as the Stadia version, and is set to be released on September 17.
The inclusion of Destiny 2: The Collection on top of cross-save should act as an incentive for any Destiny 2 players looking to make the jump to Stadia. However, the lack of cross-play with PC for now may discourage any players who’re concerned about leaving their in-game PC friends behind.