E3 2017: Sony Seemingly Skips Rocket League Cross-Console Play

Just to clear this up, they don't want to be included because the other platforms' player base is smaller and excluding themselves will somehow equate to people on 3 other platforms being somehow unable to find a match on the very popular rocket league?

I'm not getting it.

Nintendo is on board bc they have no online community to speak of so they NEED cross platform play and MS gets to look like the good guy. Sony is back into a corner on this one. They will be forced to give in sadly. Essentially they will be help the other consoles ejo would ogerwise have a ghost town of online lobby but what can you do?

@3Above As long they have 60+ million player base, they don't need to worry about this.

Does everyone want to watch software and console sales drop?

@Lonejester No, that's not it.

If people buy a PS4 for an online game (Rocket League, or whatever other game got cross play), they want to get the same console as their friends, so they can all play against/with each other. The PS4 has a large userbase, so the result is that people are more likely to get a PS4, because their friends also have a PS4 and they want to play against each other.

Microsoft doesn't care, they're losing potential customers because their userbase is smaller (your friends are less likely to own an Xbox One). But this move makes them look like the ''good guys''.

If Sony allows cross play, they're losing out on potential customers. That's the entire point. It's a business decision. But if they don't allow it, they're the ''bad guys''. They're ''screwed'' either way.

@get2sammyb @Octane Makes more sense, thank you! Yeah, definitely a business over consumers move, but that's capitalism for ya

And we cannot forget PS+. If players play online in another console, no PS+ subscription.

Switch does what Sonydon't

OK I'll have to work on that one a bit.

It's business, plain and simple.

@adf86 Its a bit of a desperation move on the part of MS. Because in the long run this will hurt them too. When they pay Millions for the Marketing deal for a multiplayer game like say the next Battlfield what will be the point ? Either they fully support cross platform play on all games or they back pedal and look dumb.

I really don't see how it can lose its 'competitive' edge. If anything it could hurt long term. Of course it has other aspects that will stop that happening...

People aren't going to buy a PS4 because it has its own, locked off ecosystem. People on Switch or Xbox maybe persuaded more to buy RL or Minecraft because their friend has it on PC. They are not going to run out and buy a console 'just' to play these games with their friend.

Its actually locking out the 60m user base from the rest of the world, keeping them in isolation, limiting them to 'just' their group. If people want a PS4 as their 'preferred' console, they will buy it. If they can play a few games with friends on other platforms, then maybe they will buy those games and as they are PSN games, Sony benefits too...

That (potential) 60m user base in Minecraft will look very small compared to all the Xbox, PC and Switch users!

This E3 will be known for stoking the fan boy fires.

Sony can quite easily say;

Sorry no, PC is potentially a hive of hacking, Nintendo online is way behind the curve and Microsoft want to abuse the monopolies system so we all end up on windows 10.

@Octane MS may not have the 'user' base of Sony with the Xbox One but add in the PC gamers - something they are doing with Play-Anywhere games, the united PC/Xbox user base is suddenly far more significant.

Xbox is become less a 'console' and more an 'ecosystem'. How you access that 'ecosystem' is down to the individual - whether its via a PC or Console, you are still part of the 'same' ecosystem. Sony are, to a degree, locking their ecosystem down to 'generations' The PS4 ecosystem is separate from the PS3 ecosystem for example.

MS don't care (too much) if you buy a console or PC to join their 'Xbox' ecosystem. They want to grow their user base under the 'xbox' umbrella and 'Xbox' is on PC too. The only way to join the PS4 ecosystem is via a PS4 console.

Eventually people will stop seeing the Xbox console as a 'separate' system but an 'alternative' way of accessing the games and playing with PC gamers in the same games on the same 'live' network and servers. They could sell you a PC or a 'console' and still give you the same online community. People that own a Switch maybe more tempted now to buy RL or Minecraft and play on the go in a much larger community than Nintendo can offer.

@get2sammyb I am sure that 'friendships' like that do exist. However I would also argue that these 'friends' would also like to play the 'exclusives' together and the 'exclusives' - I keep hearing - particularly around E3 - are more important factors than retaining friendships, power etc etc.

Would a 'friend' then who jumps ship say to MS to play CoD/Fifa at the highest resolution cause all his other friends to jump ship and abandon Sony? If we are of course talking 3rd party AAA online gaming. If that person were to do that, then it would be in Sony's best interest to open up and allow cross platform gaming to retain those.

I keep hearing that the 'exclusives' determine console choice. Therefore Sony should not have ANY issue with opening up to cross-platform gaming as people will 'opt' to but their platform anyway because, according to many, the Xbox has no games. Those who prefer PC/Xbox/Switch will still buy those regardless. I wonder how many 'additional' sales the PS4 has acquired because of a friend wanting to play a game like Fifa/CoD?

As you know, the thing I hate most is fanboyism and the fact that this gives gamers a bad press - like the 'football' hooligans. I really hope that things like cross play actually unites gamers, brings people together from a more diverse background. It could work in Sony's favour too because friendships are made. Those friends could help to sell more PS4's because of discussions about the system and exclusives, video sharing etc.

@glassmusic Sadly because they dont need it but the competition does. This doesn't really benefit Sony. And i hope ppl dont get confused and think this means cross game chat work between different platforms.

@BAMozzy Yeah that's true. I've said before that I wouldn't be surprised if their next Xbox is called Xbox 10 and is simply a Windows 10 box.

@get2sammyb pretty much, no matter which way the go they will loose something

Solution. Buy all the consoles. I have friends with PS4, some with Xbox One and some with Switch and Wii U. I got them all and I play online with none of them and play with randoms so makes no odds to me.

I will prolly double dip on Switch and play it there.

@get2sammyb But when the General Public (80's reference 😊) hears "Crossplatform play" will they know that? Much like "Console Launch exclusive" its a term that does not enlighten ut rather confuses.

I do understand why sony doesn't want this, last I heard in some games like battlefield 1 sony has the same player compared to pc plus xbox1, the gap will be wider when sony lower the price of old ps4.

Not a problem for me because all my gaming friend have ps4

@adf86 @get2sammyb Arrogant sony is back

@themcnoisy I think sony is okay with pc cross-play, final fantasy 14, rocket league, and street fighter v can cross-play with pc.

They don't want to do it with other console though since that will give a boost on their online titles player account.

Sony can't win here. They go with cross-console play with Xbox and there's no reason for Xbox owners to ever consider getting a PlayStation. Don't go with it and people will say stupid sh*t like 'Sony is anti-consumer, to which my reply would be 'duh, no big company, including MS and Nintendo, is your friend,' but I digress... My question for all the fanboys who cheerlead Nintendo and MS for this is why weren't you calling for cross-console play last gen and why do they think MS wasn't interested in it until now? It's hilarious to me how Phil Spencer has wrapped all these people around his finger. I'm just glad I'm not a moron who looks at these people as 'friends of the gamer' and has a more cynical view of it.

@NintendoFan4Lyf Multi-platform third-party games definitely, definitely sell consoles. Just ask every console nintendo made after snes (with the exception of wii).

Microsoft did not care last gen thay also don't care this generation its a PR move not that thay care for there customers. Microsoft as a company is one of the most anti-customer companies out of all the big three and i can link every anti-customer move Microsoft has ever made because there are a lot.

@Gamer83

That's a Sony fanboy excuse. They don't "lose their competitive edge" at all. There's plenty of reasons to buy a PS4, as it has a range of excellent exclusive titles both 1st and 3rd party.

You can't get Nioh, Nier Automata, Yakuza 0 or Persona 5 on an Xbox One or Nintendo Switch.

For consumer affordable consoles, guess which platform multiplats run best on? PS4 (or PS4 Pro if you consider that affordable). XB1X is niche and not affordable for most.

Which company has almost all of the major marketing deals again? Sony.

There is ZERO excuse for Sony not getting in on this.

@3Above I have all the consoles. There are no ghost towns on any of their online lobbies (unless the game itself is unpopular). Even on the switch, you can get a full MK lobby in under a minute. I think it's nice to be able to play cross platform. If all the games were like this I would have never bothered to buy an Xbox one. But, I did, because half my friends are over there. So now I have to switch back and forth depending on what friends I want to play with. It is annoying.

@Ps4all MS would have lost your sale then. Thats exactly why this isn't a great business move.

@adf86 "The Sony haters will love this story..." and so will the Sony fans. As a long long time Sony guy they need to get with the times..

This is a strong reach for sales not allowing cross play. I would argue that at this point with a over million in sales that they stop thinking with their money and start actually taking action for the players, and cross play is a strong first step.

@IceClimbers Last console cycle nobody said anything when MS refused so why the big fuss with PlayStation.

Not Sony's concern, why should they bother to support their direct competitors in providing a giant pool of players and creating a more stable online experience. It's not a charity.

@BAMozzy
Guarantee friends wanting to play games together has led to more PS4 sales than having NieR, Yakuza or even Uncharted on the console. I'm all about exclusives because I do believe it's what gives a console its identity but the fact is, the general public doesn't think that way. If it did, Nintendo would be the top dog and MS wouldn't even be relevant to the discussion right now.

@Gamer83 I think what hurts Nintendo is not its 'first party' line-up but the lack of 3rd Party games. If you want to buy Nintendo, you have to sacrifice all the big AAA releases and because its predominantly a 'first party' console, that can often mean sizeable gaps in between releases - especially if some games don't appeal.

The point I was referring too though, was that (it seems to many) the 'exclusives' are most important when consoles have the same multi-platform releases. It doesn't matter if the majority of games you buy are multi-plat that look and run better, have a more stable online, better features, better controller, etc not saying Xbox has 'all/any' of these btw. Its purely the number of Exclusives.

If the PS4 was only powerful enough to run games at 720p (at best), it would still sell more than Xbox running all those games at 1080p Ultra because it has 'more' first party games. Of course that's not how this generation panned out and the Xbox ended up being under-powered - although it did have stronger range of launch titles and continued to bring AAA games - as well as the big 3rd Party deals too.

I know you can cite E3 has having a big negative impact on their sales and we will never know how differently things may have panned out IF the XB1 had been the more powerful - running games like CoD Ghosts, ACiv, BF4 etc at a full 1080p with higher quality settings and locked frame-rates. Maybe those 'friends' would of bought the XB1 because the games looked and ran better and then those that were 'undecided' followed friends to XB1 because ultimately it ran the games better and their 'friends' upgraded to it. E3 'could' have been forgiven.

If both MS and Sony were to release a next 'gen' system today, the Sony with its excellent library of exclusives, the MS with significantly more horsepower to run the 95% of games you want at much higher visual quality and performance for $100 more, do you think those 5% of games would be 'enough' to convince people to buy Sony - knowing that almost every game you want to play looks better on another console? Chances are that people would flock to MS (especially with the BC) and pick up a Sony 2-3yrs down the line when it has 'enough' exclusive and a price drop to make it a 'justifiable' purchase.

Nintendo does 'well' because it often does come down to 1st party choice when you want a 2nd/alternative console. If you own a PS4, buying an XB1 doesn't make sense if 90% of the games you would play, you already own on PS4 - unless they significantly improve the performance/visuals. Therefore people look at 'exclusives'. They don't need a WiiU or Switch to play CoD, SW:BF, RDR etc.

During the PS3/XB360 gen, a lot of people thought I was stupid to own both because 90% of the games were the 'same' on both. I didn't have a 'console for exclusives', I had both because I could access both sets of exclusives, take advantage of any third party deals, buy the 'cheapest' version etc. I never had to worry about stores selling the PS3 (or XB360) version for £10 less than the other and with 'digital' sales having different discounts, that also helps.

Anyway getting a bit off topic...

Do you think if 1 or 2 friends opted to trade in their PS4's to get an XBX to play games like CoD, SW:BF2, Fifa etc, the rest of their friends would follow?

@NintendoFan4Lyf I like ps4 because it has 1st and 3rd party games, the first 2 year of ps4 is light on big 1st party games but it's not a problem because ps4 has 3rd party games.

Nintendo system is good for supplementary console though, can't wait to pick up switch when mario odyssey release on october, man that game looks fun

@BAMozzy
Maybe not all of their friends would follow but a decent number? I think so. I'm looking more into the future, though, than at the rest of this gen. If somebody who has always preferred Xbox but was tempted a bit to get a PlayStation because that's where his/her friends play games could all the sudden play with them without having to own the same console, that rules out potential customers, that is no benefit to Sony. Again, MS knows exactly what it's doing. And since nobody can give me an answer as to why, if cross-platform play is so great, MS didn't try it last gen, I'm going to take it as me being right. MS knew it didn't benefit because it was ahead in sales right up through 2013 before PS3 finally caught the 360. Cross-platform play would've ruled out any reason for people who prefer a PS3 to get a 360 so MS wanted no part of it. Now all the sudden, when it's getting its ass whipped, MS says 'oh yeah, we want to do this' and they're the good guy and looking out for consumers? LOL