Suppose you buy only the PC Starter Edition (ARR) right now. Here's what you would be able to do:
- You will be able to play the game on Playstation with no content restrictions.
- If you log out of the Playstation in an ARR area, you will be able to log in on the PC.
- If you log out of the Playstation in a HW, SB, or ShB area, you will not be able to log in on the PC.
- While logged in on PC, you will only be able to enter areas from ARR, and you will only be able to participate in ARR content.
- If you logged out of the Playstation in a HW, SB, or ShB area but you want to log in on the PC, you will have to sign in on the Playstation, move to an ARR area, log out of the Playstation, and then log in on the PC.
Suppose you buy the PC version and expansions now so that both your PS and PC games are fully current. Here's what happens if you only buy Endwalker for PS in the fall:
- You will be able to play the game on Playstation with no content restrictions.
- If you log out of the Playstation in an ARR, HW, SB, or ShB area, you will be able to log in on the PC.
- If you log out of the Playstation in an EW area, you will not be able to log in on the PC.
- While logged in on PC, you will only be able to enter areas from ARR, HW, SB, or ShB, and you will only be able to participate in content from the same.
- If you logged out of the Playstation in an EW area but you want to log in on the PC, you will have to sign in on the Playstation, move to an ARR, HW, SB, or ShB area, log out of the Playstation, and then log in on the PC.
If you can wait until Fall for full PC access, I'd recommend holding off on buying the PC version until Endwalker launch. That way you only have to buy two EWs later instead of a ShB now and two EWs later. If you prefer not to wait, the only thing for it is to make the extra ShB purchase now.
Collector's Edition unlocks are one per account regardless of platform, so you'd only need on CE upgrade per expansion if you wanted CE bonuses.