When "Overwatch" supported cross-play last year, Blizzard made some unusual decisions about how PC and console players would play together (opens in new tab). First, it is not an automatic process: unlike most other cross-play shooters, the only way PC and console players can meet is for the console player to join a group of PC players. Second: when a console player joins a PC player's lobby the controller's Aim Assist will be turned off.

With the surge of new "Overwatch 2" players, some console players have discovered (Kotaku (open in new tab)) that there is no Aim Assist when playing with PC friends, and are unhappy.

"For some, it's just an obstacle, but for others, being at such a disadvantage reduces their enjoyment of the game," wrote Reddit user KellySweetHeart (opens in new tab).

"PC players perform better on average, so it's kind of a double whammy."

A year ago, I would have agreed that disabling Aim Assist for console players makes no sense. The common belief was that even with Aim Assist turned on, the controller player was at an overwhelming disadvantage. Today, I am convinced it is not that simple. The power of Aim Assist has become a point of tension in some of the world's most popular FPSes, and in Apex Legends, some PC players and influencers claim that controller players have an advantage when it comes to close-range firefights. Indeed, Apex and Warzone's aiming assist can be adjusted to produce tracking (open in new tab) so good that it resembles Soldier: 76's actual aiming ultimate ability.

If I could see such sights from a mouse player, I would strongly consider them cheating. It is also true that in both games, PC players have important advantages, such as a much higher average frame rate, more settings, and better camera control. Also, while aggressive aiming assists are more powerful at close range, mouse players have a clear advantage in long-range matches, where precise crosshairs placement is important and controller assists are weaker.

However, not all assists are created equal; Overwatch 2's aim tracking, while not as dramatic as Apex or CoD in my experience, is still consequential. Most firefights take place 20-30 meters away, and the map is generally not large enough to allow for long-range sniper fights. In addition, Overwatch 2 has over 30 heroes, each of whom plays very differently. The benefits of Aim Assist vary depending on the hero playing.

If you ask an avid player of the console version of Overwatch which settings are most important, Aim Assist will probably top the list; Overwatch's controller settings have six sliders and buttons for fine-tuning Aim Assist and includes an option to increase the size of the invisible "bubble" around your character, in which crosshairs stick to your character. This stickiness is hard to miss when you're jumping and running around the walls as Lucio while trying to accurately fire your dubstep gun. Tracking sporadic enemy movement while also considering your own acrobatics is the foundation of Lucio's skill.

A controller with a sight-assist provides a different experience. While it is still difficult to be accurate with a lucio, the Aim Assist takes a huge burden off of tracking enemies in the air. On the other hand, it is clear that sniper roles like Widowmaker and Ash are much better with mouse control.

Earlier this year, my PC stopped working. For the first time in years, I was without a desktop, and desperate to play a game with friends, I fired up "Overwatch" on the console. among the PC-challenged, I became the controller player, and surprisingly, I had no problems. I didn't really understand the lack of Aim Assist, and I did just as well as I always do with a controller. That's not a high bar by any means, but I was able to get medals on heroes I thought were dire, like Soldier: 76.

Of course, I don't speak for everyone, but according to KellySweetHeart, people using their controllers have experienced "inconsistent aim". I agree that if Overwatch 2 turned on Aim Assist in the console/PC lobby tomorrow, it probably wouldn't make much difference. Let's not forget that it's already an edge case for controller and mouse players to meet in the first place, and grouping with PC friends should be the way to pick it out. In competitive mode, cross-play between PC and console is also disabled. So even if the occasional enemy Lucio is more likely to track a player than I am, does it really matter?

Platform fairness is a bigger problem than one game can solve. Some studios have decided to design around this problem, but others have gone sideways; Apex and Warzone have full controller Aim Assist, but it doesn't seem to be budging; Overwatch doesn't think Aim Assist is appropriate for the PC lobby They think it is and have turned it off. Rainbow Six Siege has zero Aim Assist, but recognizes the skill gap between console and PC and excludes PC players from cross-play altogether.

It is fascinating to see Blizzard's willingness to challenge the norm when it comes to platform fairness. Implementing cross-play means that it invites a certain degree of imbalance. Just as apples and oranges will always taste different, playing with a controller will always feel different than playing with a mouse. Official ranked mode or not, "Overwatch 2" is a competitive FPS, and a setup where core skills are partially automated for some players and not for others is not exactly balanced.

We've been slowly coming around to this issue since crossplay started showing up in all games in 2018. Players are increasingly skeptical that Aim Assist is the "great equalizer" that makes everything work. It isn't, but ironically, I think it works quite well in "Overwatch 2."