Believe it or not, crossplay on the PC is not straightforward: you might not be able to play with or against your friends if they're using a different games distribution platform. Case in point, cross-play between the Epic Games Store and Steam doesn't always work.
However, it's all about to get a whole lot easier.
According to a blog post on the Epic Games website, the software developer is launching "a new cross-play tool for game developers", adding this will give studios "everything they need to connect their game and community across platforms and stores."
The post then explains that Epic Online Services now works "seamlessly" across Steam and the Epic Games as the company continues to work on supporting more PC digital stores as well as "macOS and Linux support for desktop." Finally, Epic is promising cross-play support for consoles at a later time.
As a bonus, Epic Online Services now has an overlay merging the friend list from Steam and the Epic Games Store. This new addition will make it easier for all users to search for friends, send as well as receive friend requests, and even join multiplayer sessions across the said storefronts.