Microsoft's always been good at making headlines – and it usually opts to do so when this author's out of the office. It announced today that it will be enabling cross-network play on the Xbox One, a bold new direction from the Redmond manufacturer that… Well, puts yet another of its policies in line with the PlayStation 4. Perhaps it will officially ditch that dodgy indie parity clause at some point, too? Apparently it already has! (Sort of.)
We're not criticising the announcement: this is a good thing – though it's not really our domain to discuss. The hullabaloo around the web has been a bit baffling, though – primarily because this is a stance that Sony (and, indeed, Nintendo) has adopted all along. Remember when Rocket League launched on the PS4 last year? You could play with people on the PC. War Thunder? Same. Final Fantasy XIV? Yup – even on the PlayStation 3.
In fact, our understanding is that those latter two titles never came to Microsoft's machine because of its stubborn stance on its cross-platform policy; one would assume that Gaijin Entertainment and Square Enix are respectively rubbing their hands at this news. And rightly they should: this is positive for Xbox One owners and the wider gaming community alike. But it's nothing new.
We suppose that the Redmond firm's vague "invitation" for other networks to join the party is the potential game changer here – but it's a gathering that Sony and Nintendo are already at. Take the upcoming game Dreii: that will connect players across PS4, Vita, PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and even Wii U. Perhaps the platform holders involved should have made a bigger song and dance about this news months ago, because apparently we're in a brave new world today.
To be fair, it's worth us mentioning that Pure Chess – a game which does support cross-platform play across various devices including the Wii U and 3DS – doesn't on PlayStation platforms, with developer VooFoo Studios struggling to ever really offer a reasonable explanation as to why. Could the PlayStation maker have blocked such functionality? Only the developer will know the answer to that, but it seems unlikely given its stance elsewhere.
Still, today's announcement – and the wording of it – seems intended to put Sony in a sticky spot; the Japanese giant stands to look the bad guy if it turns around and says that it won't allow Xbox gamers to play with PS4 patrons. But it's perhaps worth remembering that, even in the event that it does pull the shutters down, this announcement from Microsoft is unlikely to change the way that games are made; The Division, for example, could have quite comfortably supported cross-platform play between the PS4 and PC – but it didn't, which is true of most multiplayer games. And we're not entirely sure why that would suddenly change in the wake of today's news.
So, what has today's announcement actually altered? Well, Microsoft's removed another brick from its walled garden, and that's good news for everyone. Presumably, the firm also hopes to see Sony squirm when it inevitably gets quizzed about the topic at the Game Developers Conference later this week. But given that Sony's always seemed open to cross-platform play on its consoles, then we can't imagine that its stance is suddenly going to change. And even in the unlikely event that the organisation's against the idea, then the same status quo that existed just 24 hours ago will still remain – there'll just be a little more interoperability between the PC and the Xbox One from now on.
Y'know, the kind of functionality that's been prevalent on the PS4 since it launched...
Are we missing the bigger picture here? Would you like more games to support cross-platform play? Do you want to game with your Xbox brethren? Do you even care? Connect with another console owner in the comments section below.
Comments 50
As someone who has friends split across the Xbox One and PS4, this would be fantastic for us. We could have our preferred exclusives while playing, say, the next Grand Theft Auto together.
I don't see the point, what would Sony gain from it other then some slaps on the back? Keep cross play with certain games and PC. Microsoft aren't doing it to benefit everyone even though that's they want people to think, their only doing it try and benefit themselves.
The other thing I didn't mention in this is that, even if cross-network or whatever they're calling it does become a thing, there'll always be benefits of being in the same ecosystem. Party chat and all of that stuff, I have to imagine, will remain best when you're playing with people on the same system — unless developers decide to significantly increase their workload by building all of that functionality into their game.
Seems like a long-shot to me.
@get2sammyb Plus it seems to be only for indie games right now which makes you wonder if it's a bit of a play on Microsoft's part to get certain games ahead of PlayStation, plus if cross network ends up been more work for devs then I'm not sure if they feel it'll be worth it, especially among AAA ones.
@adf86 Well, they're saying it's not just for indie games but... I don't understand. If cross-platform play was going to become a thing, then why wouldn't games like The Division, Call of Duty, and many more taken advantage of it for all the years it's been possible on the PS4/PS3 and PC.
Maybe they didn't want to upset the apple cart, but I don't know... I just... I'm a bit surprised by some of the reactions to this news to be honest — particularly on a certain message board that rhymes with "chaff". Maybe I'm wrong!
I think we are going to have one mega console. Where each side will contribute to the console.
Nintendo over handhelds
Xbox with Western 3rd parties
Sony with PlayStation and network.
All will help make first and second party games.
Also one universal account system across multiple platforms.
With Nintendo past consoles mean a bigger vc catalog with Sony past consoles.
@get2sammyb I don't get it either, personally as a PlayStation fan I just don't see why Sony should give a leg up to Microsoft. Don't think they would have done the same thing if they were leading.
Okay. I must've missed something....how is a larger gamer base for all gamers a bad thing? Larger base=game stays active longer.
I also can not wait until I can play Mario on my vita then pick up my 3ds and keep playing.
In other words, X-box wants more consoles to sell and are getting mad that Sony is beating it...so let's just keep on adding more junk, instead of seeking out a bunch of first-party exclusive games and trying to compete more randomly? Will the wars ever end? All of the consoles have great games that are exclusive. I'd own all three if I wanted to, and I'd pick up an XONE if I had the room for another console, but I have a TV with only 3 HD slots, and the PS4, Wii U and PS3 are hooked into that right now!
You are missing something MIcrosoft had an interests on preventing cross play in the pass because they were dominating the console market... people were forced to buy xboxes if they wanted to play online with their friends who had xbox... that was something that really made things hard for Sony... NOw that htey are not in the lead anymore they want to open cross play so Xbone is an option for people whose friends own PS4'... but now its on Sony's best interest to prevent cross play
@adf86 Ummmm you know that Final Fantasy XI allowed PS2/PS3/PC cross play right...Or Portal 2 on PS3 allowing PC/PS3 co-op and the PS3 version had Steam functionality, OR FFXIV having cross play with PS3/PS4/PC...Sony has been allowing it since 2006
This article is defintely incorrect in downplaying the monumental change that is occuring here. It is understandable because this is a site for Sony gamers and I do respect that and enjoy some of your reviews as well. Heres the point though, Sony allowing gamers to crossplay with PC was big and X1 allowing that as well is too. However X1 and PS4 gamers being able to play with eachother and against eachother online for the first time in history is monumental! Imagine in 2006 if PS3 and 360 players could play with eachother online, up until 24 hours ago that would have been insane talk. Flashforward to now and we have 2 home consoles, real gaming consoles not PC's but true gaming consoles connected with eachother. Make no mistake this decision by Microsoft is much bigger than the way you tried to spin it in this little article, and everybody knows it. This is great for all gamers period!
PS4 cross play with Xbone would be fine with me but please not PC!! Just think of playing The Division and dieing all the time from them dam PC hackers using aim bot and other hacks!! No thanks!!
Man It'd be great to play division with X1 owning friends but I doubt that's forth coming.
This whole drama llama is like listening to the Democrats and Republicans each trying to claim the moral high ground of "We'd be happy to work together, but those other guys are being such babies!"
Cross-network play should never have been an issue of contention, on either side. It's as rotten a barrier as if Internet Explorer was unable to load Google.com.
@Neolit Nice wrinkle - not quite sure what that would imply for my analogy, though!
@__marc Yes I know of this, cross play with certain games with PC is fine because traditionally PC isn't seen as the competition where's it's different with other consoles.
If the Division had been cross play the PC players would just be decimating the console players. Certain games work as cross play others do not.
I would like to play ESO cross platform with Xbox gamers but not many other titles.
@R17 Sony has stated several times in the past when asked directly that they would have no problem supporting cross play with xbox consoles. It is big news, because Microsoft finally pulled their head out of their arse.
@R17 But who says anyone's actually going to support it? Cross-platform play has been a thing on the other systems for eons, and I can count on one hand the number of games that actually support it. Do you suddenly think that because Microsoft's made a few headlines that's going to change?
I'm not seeing it.
As I said before, Cross-play isn't a bad thing at all. It has far more benefits to gamers than negatives. I know there are a few games that have cross-play between console and PC but I doubt we will see the next CoD or Destiny 2 coming to cross-play because of third party deals. It would be difficult to have some players with 'bonus' content playing with those without.
Xbox already has a party chat function with win10 devices and already looking at cross-play games within that eco-system - the cancelled Fable Legends was an example. I think if Sony did allow it, I still think it would come down to developer choice - whether they want to make their games cross-play or not.
All MS have said is that if a developer wants a game to be cross-play,they have no objections regardless of platform.
In the past, this was probably a lot more difficult because of the difference in architecture and coding of both consoles but maybe these are a lot closer now. Obviously the Xbox as a lot in common with Win10/DirectX so cross-platform games/chat etc is a lot easier with a PC but as the PS4 has cross-platform with PC, its certainly possible to have cross-platform gaming with xbox too.
Cross-platform gaming would benefit gamers and as long as it doesn't affect the performance of games, it has NO negatives.
As I said all MS have said is that from their perspective, they will not prevent developers from making cross-platform games if they want.
@At0micash after I put it on I did not make as much sense.
@JoeBlogs long while back, when discussing ff14. Sony stated they would have no problem having cross network play with xbox, especially since they already do with pc and windows. Microsofts stance was they didn't want to make their gamers "suffer" any other companies network. Yea. Even Square wanted it to happen back then, and I am sure they are happy now.
@JoeBlogs Agree with this 100%. Microsoft, and to lesser extent Sony and Nintendo, tend to make huge proclamations of things to come in the gaming world. Most never come to pass. Sorta of like the greatest line up in history, which included Fable Legends. Saw how that turned out.
@get2sammyb I absolutely do, this generation with Phil Spencer at the helm, anything hes promised hes carried out and changed the industry. Microsoft has cleverly tipped the scale forward and its going to force "reluctant Sony" to agree to this. Sony was fine with PC cross play but they had no intentions of doing crossplay with their #1 competitor. Thankfully Microsoft does what they say now that they have a real leader there(Spencer). The outcome will be amazing for gamers and bring everybody together in ways never trully done before. Also praying this cuts down half the amount of fanboyism.
@R17 In my opinion, its 'fanboyism' that's ruining gaming and journalism too. I consider myself a gamer first and foremost but it also puts me in the same category as 'fanboys' and the public image of those.
Phil Spencer stated that one of the games he is most looking forward to playing in the near future was Uncharted 4. You can imagine how the 2 sets of fanboys reacted to this! I would imagine that any 'gamer' would be looking forward to playing the best games regardless of platform.
The main reason I own both PS and XB consoles is because I am a gamer and want to play the best games regardless of which platform they are on.
Cross-play benefits gamers regardless of platform choice too. It should increase the lobby sizes, therefore reducing ping/lag and enabling game quality to be at its best. It also adds duration to MP games as over time people move on but instead of a handful of players on each system struggling to get decent games, with a few modes unplayable because not enough players, all those left would be pooled together increasing lobbies, reducing lag/ping etc.
I would rather play an MP/online game with people spread over the UK regardless of platform choice, than play with people spread all over the world on the same platform as me EVERYTIME.
Oh the sorry comments on here about hackers and the inability to play against a proper PC opponent....
Just face it...everyone knows it's a fact that you would get wasted by someone on a PC playing against them on a console. They've done numerous studies that have all lead to the same conclusion.......PC gamers will destroy consoles. Especially in a RTS/FPS game.... Hands down destroyed.
So get over your talk about hacks and being unfair to play against a PC opponent.
@get2sammyb
Between two different consoles, I think it'll be a nightmare for devs. Patches, updates, and DLCs should be done and working for all platforms before they roll out and not when one in particular is ready. Why would 3rd parties make themselves suffer when they can focus on one platform at a time without worrying on the other? What if the game version on the other platform is working fine? Should they fix (and risk of breaking) what isn't broken because the other one is?
@Splatburst
Maybe developers will get their heads outta each others arses and put out a day one stable game... There is no excuse on a console with "fixed" hardware when a game is pretty much broken day one, ir requires a monster day one patch.
@Splatburst Yeah, I'm with you, which is why I'm a little surprised this story has blown up the way it has - especially seeing as the precedent has been there on other systems for a while and has been widely ignored.
@At0micash Dude, this was around the time of the launch of the ps4, a journalist asked in passing if they would be up to it, and they would. I don't save links for everything I read, but I know I read it. Believe it or dont, don't really care, but I know what I read and that's all I care about.
Are people seriously looking at this as a "revolution" just on an incredibly vague "other networks" line? I'd rather they put their towards keeping Lionsgate and Press Play employers in the job and actually make exclusives instead.
If I was Sony I'd just say "we're always open to the idea of cross network play but the decision will be down to the developers and publishers".
But seriously, recent games like Battlefront and CoD which they had marketing and or exclusive content, do you really think Sony would allow xbox gamers in on that content too? It's the same when Microsoft blocked certain games from using SharePlay.
@Splatburst The PS2, 360, and PC all had FFXI with full cross platform play, and managed it. FFXIV manages PS3, PS4, and PC (Windows) and PC (Mac) and likely with this news, Xbox One will be sure to follow. Its just going to take developers streamlining their multiplatform efforts.
@R17 I see.
@thedevilsjester
PS4 to PC or PS4 to PS3 yes. But PS4 to XBox One or Wii U/NX? It would mean:
"Let's water down the game features to accommodate multiplatforms and let's forget each hardware's unique selling points (or feature) so it won't have advantages/disadvantages with the other". (or let the hardware disparity and in-game features as is and have an unbalance gameplay between different consoles)
It could work on some games like coop and turn based games. But competitive twitch/skill based games? I think it's a bad idea. "PC would rekt consoles" as someone put it if they'll do it on shooters.
@R17
I'm with @get2sammyb. I'm not sure if Phil Spencer is sincere or not but he's just right for the PR job to turn things around for Xbox ever since the Don Mattrick (self) destruction. I mean whoever replaced Don Mattrick should be doing what Phil Spencer is doing now.
The only reason I have an Xbone is to play a few multiplayer games with friends who wouldn't switch to PS4. If this happens I can finally get rid of this piece of crap console.
@Tcufrog I think he's just mad because ms got attention for doing it.
Can you guys please just let it go already, its clear you dont want to give any credit to how well Microsoft is doing and the hugely intelligent business moves that are being made. Just keep downplaying it due to your own insecurities on your sole(1) system ownership and let it go Sony fanboys! And to the people on here who are PS4 only purchasers and responded with a more positive and less snarky atitude, THANK YOU. There are only a handful of people on this comment board who are true gamers and recognize how amazing this deal is for all gamers as a whole!
@get2sammyb Sad that your responding with childish GIFS and your continued need to keep responding to my "1" comment from last night only shows your insecurity and second guessing of your "fan baiting" article. I gave your article a critique from a multi console owners point of view and you completely came undone over the course of 12 hours :/.
Just let it go, you tried to spin this article in a fanboyish way and more than 50% of the readers recognized it right away. And thats fine, this is a Playstation fan site so you did your job and tried to create a bias in your readers minds which sometimes works ala Cable news .
@Splatburst Couldnt disagree more, He is doing amazing things to turn around a ship that was cursed and shunned in 2013 and has quickly turned it around and is now taking prominence in many areas its competitors are not. A new leader could have easily came in and slowly made change or completely just ignored fans and did what they wanted to do like Playstations new boss Shawn Layden who took over for the great and far better leader Jack Tretton. And that has alot to do with the slow pace of updates on the ps4 as well as lackluster PSN Network functionality
I feel like we're going a bit off-topic here. This thread isn't about Phil Spencer or any other executive for that matter. It's about cross-network play and whether or not Sony will allow it.
@R17 I think Sammy was reacting to the notion that Phil Spencer has completely turned Xbox around when I think many people are starting to see less reason to own the system with most of their exclusives going on PC, closing down of studios and already talk of whether there will be another Xbox or not. It looks to me like he's been given the job of focusing on Windows 10 as a platform because Microsoft see that as their future rather then Xbox but even then they aren't doing it properly. That's why when Quantum Break was revealed for PC fans kicked up a fuss because they saw their platform of choice as been devalued.
@royalblues Yes of course you can but others are within their right to think that it's not that big of a deal or are sceptical of Microsoft's sudden "good guy" act.
@Royalblues Sorry you feel like that but I don't see how I express an opinion is a problem for you.
@At0micash I think that's fair enough for them, like I said Windows 10 is their future.
Coming from a former gaming journalist and reviewer I think that about does it for me responding here. The moral of the story is if your a fanboy you will always be a fanboy and feel the need to shoot down anything positive coming from either side opposite you. This other side is usual highly defensive over a piece of plastic you didn’t want to plunk down money for and rather just bought one piece of plastic rather than the 2 or 3. I prefer all 3 and so do many others here, so for all of us it is a win, win period. I was happy to skyrocket this article to #1 on n4g because it opened up a discussion that reveals not everyone agrees with this “spin” article. Just pleased to see not everyone is a fanboy and has the self esteem of a 10 year old and can have legitimate discussions.
@R17 LoL... Aren't you a fanboy yourself?
You know absolutely nothing about the details of the proposed cross-network play other than the PR announcement. Yet you are quick to defend Miscrosoft.
@Splatburst If the platforms were unique, you would have a point, but other than a little more power on the PS4, the PS4 and Xbox are the same machine in a different box; and Nintendo hardly enters into the conversation.
Its no different than what Multiplatform games have been doing for ages.
@R17 I disagree. I used to be a Nintendo fanboy, back during the NES and SNES era, even into the lead up to the N64, but once the PS1 launched, it was an easy choice to switch allegiances. As a fanboy, my loyalty is not absolute, and I can and will switch to something else if I find a platform that I like better. I would like to think that most (or...many? at least?) fanboys would do the same.
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