Ever since 2008, side-scrolling beat ’em-up fans have enjoyed the colorfully chaotic Castle Crashers. Originally launched for the Xbox 360, the fantasy action game has since become available on virtually every major gaming platform. Here’s whether any version of Castle Crashers is playable cross platform.
The answer to this question is a bit more complicated than one might initially expect, with the answer truly being yes and no. Players on different platforms can technically play Castle Crashers together, but only within the same family of platforms and only if they’re playing the remastered version of the game, first released in 2015, as opposed to the original version initially available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The original Castle Crashers is not cross-platform at all, allowing only multiplayer between players of the same gaming platform to join forces.
However, people playing Castle Crashers Remastered do have some options in terms of cross-platform functionality, albeit in the broadest sense of the term. People playing Castle Crashers Remastered on home consoles can’t play with PC or Mac OS players, nor can different console families play with each other. That means Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players can’t play with PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 and, with the Nintendo Switch currently the only Nintendo console capable of playing Castle Crashers Remastered, Switch players can’t play with any other gaming platforms at all.
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With all that in mind, people playing Castle Crashers Remastered on PC or Mac can play the game together cross-platform. Similarly, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 players can play Castle Crashers Remastered together because that version of the game is, functionally, the PS4 version – it has yet to receive a PS5-specific port. This is also true for Castle Crashers Remastered players on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, who are able to play with each other as this version of the game is, functionally, the Xbox One version of the game.
Castle Crashers developer and publisher The Behemoth has not revealed any plans to make the game universally cross-platform, and with the remastered version out for a full decade now, fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath for this feature in the near future. Admittedly, Castle Crashers has had a checkered history with its online play ever since its early days, something that has significantly improved with the remastered version, but not in regard to cross-platform gameplay. That any cross-platform functionality exists at all, with the remastered version, is a small gift in itself, though understandably frustrating for Castle Crashers players looking to mix it up with friends on different platforms.
Castle Crashers harkens back to the arcade beat-em-up games of the ‘90s, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons, with teams of up to four players playing online or locally to progress through waves of enemies. Each character has their own unique magical abilities, leveling up as they dispatch enemies and acquire orbs. The remastered version comes with two minigames offering new ways for players to enjoy the quirky world of Castle Crashers.
