Sony Is the Only Remaining Obstacle To PS4-Xbox Cross-Play (kotaku.com)

In March, Microsoft announced native support for cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10. At the time, the company also added that this support could be extended to "other console and PC networks," something which led people to wonder if truly cross-platform gaming, on any platform, was next. When asked, Sony did say that it was open to the idea. "PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002. We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross-platform play." But since then, it appears that Sony has had a change of heart, which has resulted in developers asking the company for an update. Kotaku reports: In recent days, the developers behind Rocket League and The Witcher 3 have both called for Sony to break down the walls separating PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and allow cross-platform multiplayer. What's changed in the last few days are developers making an open call for Sony to make good on having that conversation with publishers and developers. In an interview with IGN, Psyonix president Jeremy Dunham explained how the Rocket League developer had already taken care of the technical side of things. "We're literally at the point where all we need is the go-ahead on the Sony side," said Dunham, "and we can, in less than a business day, turn it on and have it up and working no problem. It'd literally take a few hours to propagate throughout the whole world, so really we're just waiting on the permission to do so." In another statement to IGN, CD Projekt RED CEO Marcin Iwinski supported Psyonix.

Comments

Microsoft just trying to level the playing field

[YourMissionForToday]

Microsoft has been uninterested in cross-platform gameplay since....well, forever. They've actively tried to kill PC gaming (or at the very least, make it a second-class gaming experience to the Xbox). Not to mention they double-dip with their accessories ( For example, Xbox One Kinect having a proprietary connector so they can sell the USB 3.0 Windows Kinect).

Now Microsoft has suddenly seen the light! They want to enable cross-platform play with Sony! Hmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with the low sales for Xbox One compared to PS4. Sony's refusal makes them the "closed" bad guy now. Great marketing, but it doesn't actually improve anyone's gaming experience. Psyonix's leadership is either naive about the console business or willfully acting as Microsoft's proxy to attack Sony.