r/pcgaming•
DaddyPls

Opinions on Crosshair Overlays in multiplayer FPS/TPS games?

As the title states, I would like to know your opinions on third-party overlays used to display a custom crosshair on your monitor. Important info before getting into it, I am talking about software that is only an overlay and does not, or cannot, hook into the game or interact with its files in any way.

TL;DR: To me, they are ok as they do not give the user an advantage or interact with game files. I think it is worth reading my detailed explanation for the broader context and description of my stance.

I am personally of the opinion that custom crosshairs are a necessary accessibility feature. If you spent any time getting good at a game like CS or Valorant, you know community members will tell you that no crosshair will make you a god at the game, so to me, this would hold true across all FPS titles. I believe users should be allowed to run an overlay with whatever custom shapes make it easiest for them to designate the center of their screens, especially in games that do not allow for high UI customizability. Specifically, I think of games like CoD, Battlefield, and Apex Legends, which do allow for custom UI/ADS reticle colors, but no fine-tuned customization to the level of Overwatch, CS, and Valorant. It is very important to highlight that games that are meant to be played with mininmum UI/HUD elements like Escape From Tarkov, Squad, Hell Let Loose, etc. are not the topic of this post, as those are clearly in a different category than the more arcade/competitive style games I am talking about. I AM against overlays in hardcore titles like those. With this being said, I think that because I see this as a matter of accessibility, it is also within AAA companies' best interests to include the ability to customize crosshairs to a broader degree in the way that the games mentioned above do, but as things stand with a lot of games currently, I think crosshair overlays are totally fair to use as there's nothing giving the user any form of unfair advantage when using one.

I think a legitimate discussion is worth having on this topic, so share any and all thoughts on the subject :)

Posted Jul 9, 2025, 2:18 AM UTC

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