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Sony Blocks Yet Another Game From Cross-Console Play With Xbox One (arstechnica.com)
"Back in June, Sony told Eurogamer that the company did not have 'a profound philosophical stance' against letting PS4 users play games with those on other platforms," reports Ars Technica. "That said, the company's continued refusal to allow for cross-console play between PS4 and Xbox One players has become an absolute and unmistakable trend in recent months." The latest game to be denied by Sony for cross-console play is Ark: Survival Evolved, which comes out of a two-year early access period next week on Windows, Mac, PS4, and Xbox One. From the report: In a Twitter response posted over the weekend, Ark lead designer and programmer Jeremy Stieglitz said that cross-platform play between PS4 and Xbox One is "working internally, but currently Sony won't allow it." This isn't a huge surprise, considering that the developers of Rocket League, Minecraft, and Gwent have made similar statements in recent months. Since Microsoft very publicly opened Xbox Live to easy cross-platform play back in March, Sony has said that it's "happy to have a conversation" about the issue, but it has failed to follow through by allowing any linkage between the two competing consoles (cross-platform play between the PS4 and PC has been available in certain games since the PS4's launch, though).
The question continues to be why, exactly, Sony seems so reluctant to allow any games to work between its own PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live. Speaking with Eurogamer in June, Sony's Jim Ryan suggested that, in the case of Minecraft, Sony was wary to expose that game's young players to "external influences we have no ability to manage or look after." Ryan also told Eurogamer that cross-platform decisions were "a commercial discussion between ourselves and other stakeholders." That suggests there may be some financial issues between the parties involved that are preventing cross-console play from moving forward. Perhaps Sony wants someone else to pay for the work required to get its network talking to Microsoft's? The bottom line, though, might be that Sony just doesn't want to partially give away its sizable advantage in console sales by letting Microsoft hook into that vast network of players.
The question continues to be why, exactly, Sony seems so reluctant to allow any games to work between its own PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live. Speaking with Eurogamer in June, Sony's Jim Ryan suggested that, in the case of Minecraft, Sony was wary to expose that game's young players to "external influences we have no ability to manage or look after." Ryan also told Eurogamer that cross-platform decisions were "a commercial discussion between ourselves and other stakeholders." That suggests there may be some financial issues between the parties involved that are preventing cross-console play from moving forward. Perhaps Sony wants someone else to pay for the work required to get its network talking to Microsoft's? The bottom line, though, might be that Sony just doesn't want to partially give away its sizable advantage in console sales by letting Microsoft hook into that vast network of players.
The problem with Minecraft at least was that is was mandatory to sign up for an Xbox Live account. There doesn't seem to be issues outside developers saying "you must sign up for Xbox live".
The question continues to be why, exactly, Sony seems so reluctant to allow any games to work between its own PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live
How stupid do you need to be that you need to ask why? There can be only one reason: MONEY.
PSN has more players than XBL, letting both play with each other benefits Microsoft much more than Sony. Why would Sony do something this stupid?
This is Karma, having abused its leading Windows market share for decades, this is just a small taste of their own medicine for Microsoft.
For those that are interested Ark is also out on early-access on SteamOS/Linuxflavorofchoice. Though there is no mention in the article. Not too surprising...
"You have the right to free speech...as long as, you aren't dumb enough to actually try it." - The Clash
Been there, professional game developer here, we had cross-play working between PS4 and XB1 almost 2 years ago, and it looked like Sony might go for it back then. Today, everyone knows it's not happening. This game developer is looking for publicity, is all. Sony have explained why to them, they're just pretending not to know, and they can't say anyway because of all the NDAs.
The issue isn't getting Sony's network to talk to Microsoft's. The networks don't have to talk at all. Our servers can handle connections from our client on any platform. All we need is basic UDP. (There's no "PC network" that they have to talk to to get PS4/PC cross play working either, of course.)
Sony allow PS4 cross play with PC but not with live chat. They can't have you talking to PSN members unless there's a facility to be reported and blocked. So PS4/PC cross play is missing a key feature already because of this. We dropped it for this reason.
With XBL, Microsoft announced this when it was clear that XB1 had dramatically undersold PS4 globally. It was pretty obvious from day one it wouldn't fly with Sony. Why would they give Microsoft a helping hand? The entire thing is a political move from Microsoft, it never was a feature that would ever happen. Note that the biggest name on the complainants list - Minecraft - is owned by Microsoft.
It's pretty simple. If you've got 4 PS4s for every XB1, Sony want the XB1 user to buy a PS4. They don't want to hand that XB1 user new features on a plate so that they don't have to buy a PS4. Call it lock-in, or call it common sense. They want to capitalize on their market domination, not throw it away. If MS were winning this console cycle, of course, the boot would be on the other foot. MS never suggested this feature between PS3 and X360, even though it was just as technically viable then as it is now. It's just never going to happen between two rabidly competing entities in a billion-dollar market.
Sony is the market leader in this generation of consoles, by blocking cross-platform play they keep the players available for online play on the XboxOne version low which further hurts the perception of the console.
" It was pretty obvious from day one it wouldn't fly with Sony. Why would they give Microsoft a helping hand?"
Err, isn't this about giving GAMERS a helping hand, or have you forgotten about them , you know, the people who ultimately pay your wages?
Both Sony and XBox One are interested in selling Playstation Plus and Xbox Live subscriptions to access online game play elements and additional content. The cross-platform multiplayer design runs directly counter against that business model. It's all about money. Nothing new.
We'll make great pets
The XBox X has them scared because it represents a new step toward merging console and PC gaming for average buyers. That means you get into Microsoft's orbit and suddenly you find that you're part of a much bigger ecosystem than Sony can put together now.
Like Microsoft's phone ecosystem? Or the Windows store ecosystem?
PS4 has sold many more units than the XBox One and the gap is growing very rapidly.
I'm all for hopping on the Sony do bad train, but Ark on consoles is incredibly buggy. The developer constantly breaks previously working features and can barely keep a working version that doesn't crash hard and erase all player progress. So while I'd like to believe that article, as someone who plays Ark, I know how much of a sh*t show this developers process is, so I don't have much faith in their ability to release a stable product and that very well could be the reason in the denial. Arks updates on PS4, keep getting held back by Sony because of stability issues, a lot are wondering if the developer will even be able to get their official release set for the 29th certified by Sony.
(Note: I've been playing Ark on console since 2015.)
Does anyone at Sony know that Final Fantasy XIV allows PS4, Windows and Mac players at the same time? I'm pretty sure that covers their fears of "external influences we have no ability to manage or look after."
#DeleteFacebook
Don't buy proprietary lock-in platforms, such as PS, XBox, etc.
We need a console that doesn't suck and lasts for a little longer than just a few years. I'm kinda hoping the new Atari reboot will be that. Ouya was a faliure, sadly. The emphasised to much on the "free" aspect AFAICT.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Or maybe the project managers at the development studio are to blame? If the development team is small and and they have a lot of pressure by managers to add more new features in a short time then bugs and glitches slip easily into the code. Doesn't have to do anything with the development qualities of the programmers.
Also your argument is not very clever, since there would be no reason to complain about the cross-platform feature if they cannot deliver on that. In case Sony would change their mind, people would expect them to add that feature and in that case they would lose the trust of the player-base if they weren't capable to deliver.
Don't develop games for consoles that have a history of gating off cross platform gaming communities on their own little money making islands.
If this factored into Player Unknown's Battlegrounds decision to go Xbox Exclusive instead of originally stating planned support both PS4 and Xbox support.
They said cross-platform play was important to them. (Of course being the #1 or #2 most popular selling game on Steam means they could probably get away with segmented players. However, maybe it's easier from a server standpoint with "one" codebase as far as server's clients go?)
The thing is, I thought PS4 had a larger market. Or perhaps Xbox has more "FPS" players?
Granted, a key factor is that Microsoft is "publishing" PUBG on Xbox which means they probably paid a CRAP TON of money to buy exclusive licensing for a year or more. But if you're making hundreds of millions, you'd be damn sure to consider all the factors. And my point is, I wonder if this story is one of those factors.
I can't help but wonder if part of it is that Sony doesn't want to peer up for risk of highlighting dog shit design and/or latency issues in their network that they can gloss over with client-side workarounds. If everyone has to use the exact same build, on the exact same hardware, in the exact same software environment, you can hide some pretty terrible/crazy things with prediction, etc.
In the XBox360/PS3 generation, when the 360 was in the lead, the roles of the two companies were exactly reversed. Sony was saying they'd love to enable cross platform play and MS was making disingenuous excuses for why they couldn't: "for the good of the players".
The only way this is ever going to happen is if the two companies see a common interest in working together. If the console market as a whole took a nose dive in favor of PC online gaming, for example, they might see a benefit in keeping multiplayer queues full by enabling cross console play. Or if MS and Sony were neck and neck and Nintendo was way out ahead of them, then they might see a benefit.
But as it is right now, all enabling cross platform play will do for Sony is allow people who already own XBoxes to forgo buying a PS4 as a secondary console. Or worse, allow new console purchasers to choose their console solely on price, and not who has the largest installed base to play with.
I'm not saying I agree with it, but I understand their position. With Scorpio coming out and PS4 losing the edge in graphical capability, the PS4's major advantage in the eyes of the average consumer is that (all else being equal), more of their friends probably already own a PS4, so they will have more people to play with on that platform. No way is Sony going to voluntarily erase that advantage.
The moment someone pulls out the; "Think of the CHILDREN!" argument you know they are bullshitting you and it is all about the MONEY.
Sony must keep a tight grip on their players by keeping them in a closed ecosystem. They cannot afford to let even a small number see what it is like "over the fence".
I remember a story a while back where cross platform was allowed between PC and PS4 users in a FPS game but it was short lived due to the fact that Keyboard+Mouse users were destroying players using console controllers.
I wonder if they may be worried that the console wars could translate into some sort of real online war in which their users might again be on the loosing side?
So allow players to pick whether they want to play on a PC+PS4 server or a PS4 only server. Solutions that benefit everyone aren't hard to come by.
They don't need a reason to fuck things up, hell, they don't even need to try... it just comes naturally to them.
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
The problem is that some enterprising person could set up a PC to act as a relay between the networks, and it would be difficult to police.
Back on PS2 Sony worked with Square to allow
cross platform play with PC for FFXI, 360 had the game too but MS refused to link up and stayed off by themselves.
Because of that FFXIV did not come to Xbox platforms
PS3 Sony partnered with Valve to bring cross platform multiplayer, chat, achievements, etc allowing Steam to work across PS3 and PC. Again MS refused.
Gearbox wanted Borderlands 2 to work across all platforms, and here is what MS had to say via Kotaku:
"Here's a Microsoft spokesperson saying "no," while promoting how awesome the Xbox 360's online service is: "Xbox Live delivers the best entertainment experience unmatched by anyone else, with 35 million actively engaged members. We have a high level of expectation for our game developers to ensure that all Live experiences remain top notch. Because we can't guarantee this level of quality, or control the player experience on other consoles or gaming networks, we currently do not open our network to games that allow this cross-over capability.""
Now this generation, Sony helped launch Rocket Cars as a free download on PSN and it had cross platform play with PC. Same with Street Fighter V
So is it really any wonder now that MS is playing runner up that Sony got fed up of this fair weather crap and gave MS the very same excuse that MS gave back in the day?
So why again is Sony getting shit for this?
Twinstiq, game news
So you're saying they could connect a PC to both the PC+PS4 network and the PS4-only network? Why can't that same enterprising developer simply set that same PC up as a proxy to connect their gaming PC to the PS4-only network today, then? Is it because you're spouting bullshit? I think it's because you're spouting bullshit. Stop spouting bullshit.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
For some reason I messed up the FFXI link in my post so here it is: http://ca.ign.com/articles/200...
Twinstiq, game news
I'm not sure what defense you're trying to argue, the studio already sold more than 7 million copies, even if they started out as a small team they clearly have the resources now to at least run their releases through some QA before releasing them to the public. Instead the games gets released with obvious problems that should have been noticed if someone ran the game for 1 minute, then they end up trying to push another release through certification 5 minutes after just getting a release certified. Do you think it matters to the public if the fault is with a project manager, management, developers, QA team (or in this case, lack of QA team). No, that doesn't matter, we're the customer and if a studio wants their customers to have faith in their ability they shouldn't release broken updates for 2 years. Everyone is actually afraid to install updates these days because they fear for losing all their in-game progress. Your customer base shouldn't be afraid to install your updates, that is plain and simple.
I suppose if these sociopaths cockblock interconsole online gaming, the odds of PSN/XB Live/PC gaming is still years away?
It would be so glorious for games like Neverwinter and Star Trek Online to be played online cross platform. Granted, we would see a lot more whining and "nerf herding" from the console crowd, but that would be part of the fun, eh? :D
My Space Elf and the crew of the RRW Cheshire Goose would enjoy pwning their space butts (at least once I get back into Star Trek when I don't have a ton of other stuff going on out in the real world. ;)
Kessillia and Crew
Apologies for Shutterfly. I recently fired PhotoBucket and can't upload any more there since that put me way over quota.
And apologies for Kessy being in her swimwear for the group photo. She has been parked on Risa since the end of the Summer Event this year, and can't be arsed to get changed yet or leave. ;)
This space unintentionally left blank.
My kid has a Xbone because that's the predominant platform at his school. All his friends have that, so to play online with them he got the same thing. By axing cross-platform compatibility, they've cut the odds of us switching to PlayStation to approximately 0.00%.
Which is a pity because Sony has a lot of great properties that I'm sure we'd enjoy. But if switching - and no, we're not buying into both platforms - means that my son can't play with his friends then it's just not happening.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Sony's Jim Ryan suggested that, in the case of Minecraft, Sony was wary to expose that game's young players to "external influences we have no ability to manage or look after."
Sooooooo... what you're saying is that the PS4 doesn't do web browsing? I could have sworn it did...
How about you have developers write games that connect to their OWN servers and network infrastructure: instead of depending on some game server system provided by Sony, then Sony's servers don't have a choice to refuse cross-console interoperability; the developers' servers can act as brokers behind the scenes using a protocol that is standardized regardless of endpoint.
At that point Sony can (probably) do nothing to stop without running afoul of anti-trust regulations.
Even if you buy open hardware, often the OS and online storefront from which you buy games is proprietary and has restrictions on who you can play with.
No, PUBG went to Xbox because they have an unfinished games program, Sony doesn't let unfinished games in its store
Twinstiq, game news
- Playstation has a huge lead this generation, which means most people are on their platform.
- That lead means Playstation will have the most people online, which will likely include a decent number of people who abandoned Xbox.
- If you're an Xbox hold-out and you want the largest multiplayer pool of gamer and/or your friends have jumped to Playstation, you need to consider Playstation.
But then:
- Sony allows cross-platform multiplayer between Playstation and Xbox games.
- You can play your Xbox games against your Playstation friends and its large player pool.
- You no longer need to consider switching to Playstation, because the only reason you were considering it just evaporated.
I guess most of the customers don't mind the low quality of the game, otherwise Ark would not be this popular. And since they don't mind the issue, the team will also focus on what they have been doing until now without changing too much in the process.