On August 13, Konami confirmed that Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater Delta‘s new multiplayer mode–Fox Hunt–won’t support crossplay on PC or consoles. It’s not the only game to lack the popular feature this year. Elden Ring Nightreign doesn’t support crossplay and arcade soccer hit Rematch launched without it, too. But in 2025, it is weird that some games are still lacking what feels like an industry standard for multiplayer games.
In a small post on Twitter on Wednesday, Konami announced that its upcoming MGS remake won’t feature crossplay multiplayer in Fox Hunt. It’s the latest bit of bad news about the game’s online mode after Konami confirmed last week that MGS Delta: Snake Eater multiplayer won’t be available at launch. Instead, it will be added to the game via a free update in the fall. Many players are now worried that when Fox Hunt finally arrives, the mode, which was likely to have a small playerbase compared to more popular online games anyway, might suffer from long wait times and will feel dead soon after launch. Crossplay could have united the small groups of players spread across PS5, Xbox, and PC, but now that won’t happen. And the upcoming MGS remake isn’t the only big-name game to skip crossplay in 2025.
【ご案内】
『METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER』のオンライン対戦モード 「FOX HUNT」につきまして、異なるプラットフォーム間でのクロスプレイは非対応となります。対応機種
PlayStation®5、Xbox Series X|S、Steam®#MGSDelta #MetalGearSolid #メタルギアソリッド pic.twitter.com/sGsv3CjyhW— メタルギア公式 (METAL GEAR) (@metalgear_jp) August 13, 2025
Elden Ring Nightreign has received rave reviews from players and critics and has consumed the lives of at least five different people I know, including my wife and Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach. But the game launched without crossplay, and FromSoftware is unlikely to ever add it. Sure, some players might be annoyed by crossplay in competitive games like Call of Duty because it allows PC hackers to screw with console players easily. But in something like Nightreign, that would have been a non-issue. Most people are playing the online, run-based RPG with friends, and the game is all PVE co-op. Another 2025 game that lacked crossplay at launch is the fantastic soccer game Rematch, though according to the devs, it is being added in the near future.
It wasn’t that long ago that crossplay was a novelty that we rarely saw in console games. Then, around 2019, Fortnite became mega popular, and Xbox, Sony, and Nintendo were all forced to play ball as it became clear that players wanted to play with their friends regardless of platform. Nowadays, a game announcing crossplay isn’t news. Instead, it’s only the lack of the feature that catches people’s attention, like with the MGS Delta: Snake Eater announcement.
So why are some games still avoiding crossplay? There’s definitely some tech reasons behind the decision. Even if it’s easier today than before to implement crossplay, it’s still extra work for devs and adds more complications to big games that are already complex pieces of software. There’s also the claim that Sony is reportedly still charging publishers fees to add crossplay to games ported to PS4 or PS5. That extra cost might make a publisher pass on supporting crossplay, especially in co-op-only games like Nightreign or niche online modes like MGS’s Fox Hunt. Whatever the reason, it is now very odd not to include crossplay, and it’s only going to get weirder to do so as a new generation of gamers grows up in an era when almost every game supports cross-platform multiplayer action.
