Anyone bored of this one yet? We know we’re supposed to be as outraged at Sony’s cross-console play obstruction as day one DLC and DRM, but – it’s just not going to happen, is it? Hounded about the prospect at Gamescom 2017 – as all PlayStation and Microsoft executives will be from now until the end of time – Xbox goon Aaron Greenberg has suggested that, with regards to Minecraft, discussions are still taking place.
“Absolutely, yeah,” he told Game Reactor. “We're talking to Sony [about cross-console play], we do partner with them on Minecraft and of course we would like to enable them to be part of that – one community to unite gamers. So we're talking to them and we're hopeful that they'll be supportive of it.”
But it’s just not going to happen. As we’re getting bored of repeating now, as long as the PlayStation 4 is the market leader, there’s no way the Japanese giant will give up a competitive advantage – even if it is for The Good of the Gamers™. Minecraft and Rocket League may not be big deals in isolation, but what if FIFA or Call of Duty wants to follow the same path? A lot of people buy specific consoles to play with their friends.
So whatever conversations Sony and Microsoft are having, we suspect they end in a big fat no. And look, we understand this is a topic that’s going to chug along until the end of time, but it doesn’t mean we can’t express some degree of tedium each and every time we have to report on it. We already can’t wait for the subject to be breached at Paris Games Week…
[source gamereactor.eu]
Comments 41
You know i think Sony would actually be down for doing it as they wanted to in the past but i think the whole thing about MS requiring XBL to be on the system for it to work is putting them off
@FullbringIchigo you do know the real reason y they're not doing it right?!
They wanna force people to buy a PS4 in order to say play Minecraft w friends
I was bored of it as soon as it became a thing.
It's not going to happen, there's no way sony will allow cross-play and give the 60M ps4 users to xbox audience, especially in europe, japan and asia where xbox market share is small.
And the one that's angry because they can't play with more people is xbox users, so sony can ignore them since they're not going to buy ps4 anyway if they can have cross-play.
Maybe the story will be different if microsoft ask sony in the beginning of this gen rather than waiting until they're beaten so badly in sales.
Honestly this is getting old. MS is just using this now to one up Sony . Pretty pathetic if you ask me.
I seem to remember Microsoft not allowing cross-play at the start of this generation while Sony would, which is why Final Fantasy XIV is on the PS4 and not XBO.
It's funny how falling behind in sales 30 million units or more changes things.
@Derpie1 Well if I was a business I would want people to buy my product rather then the competition's. That's just common sense. You don't see McDonald's telling people to go buy a burger from Burger King do you?
MS is getting desperate. Not a good look.
Bad move anyway for business but I would love it in some cases to play with my friends on Xbox. Also security risks amongst other things
I still do not see any issue with this at all.
I still think it can work to the benefit of both gamers and console manufacturers - inc Sony. I certainly don't think games like CoD or Fifa will ever be 'cross-platform' but I see no harm in games like Minecraft or Rocket League.
It should be assessed on a 'game by game' basis of course but with the big AAA games - like CoD or Fifa potentially having different coding - certainly at times with 3rd Party timed content and 'updates' then I really see no issue.
I know people buy consoles to play with their friends but I can't see Minecraft or Rocket League being system sellers. If anything though, it could lead to people buying a Switch or Xbox because the 'combined' users of Xbox, PC, and Switch users blow the PS4 user base away. It 'may' make a PS4 owner pick up a Switch, XB1 or PC to join 'friends' on those systems. A lot of PS4 owners jumped from XB360 and with the 'X' coming out soon to offer the 'most powerful' console to make all their 3rd Party multi-platform games look and/or run better, maybe, just maybe some of the PS4 owners will pick up the 'X'
Will that lead to a mass exodus - 1 or 2 friends picking up an 'X' to play games like SW:BF2, RDR2 etc at the 'best' resolution and then their friends jumping across - because as you say, friends want to play with 'friends'.
If Sony were, shall we say, more open to the idea and assess each on a per game basis, they could still play with 'friends' - regardless of Platform.
On the one hand, people say that 'exclusives' matter when it comes to people making their choice and then when something like this crops up, its all about where your 'friends' play. If Sony continue to have the 'best' exclusives, then that will attract and keep people playing their system. It would still be a 'benefit' to Sony to allow 'cross-play' on 'selected' games.
If as people say, the 'exclusives' matter, then Sony really shouldn't be worried about 'losing' a console sale to Xbox/Switch as people will buy a PS because it has the 'best' games. It may also benefit Sony because those 'friends' on Switch/PC/Xbox will be 'happier' to buy Sony's console knowing that they can still play Rocket League or Minecraft.
It bugs me that people use 'excuses' that 'suit' them at the time. We see it with the 'upcoming' X and how 'power' isn't everything when you don't have games - yet that was used in 2013 but just directed to PS4 instead. Now Sony are chucking out exclusives and MS are going through a lean spell, those PS fanboys, the ones that in particular mocked the 'Xbox' for not being able to deliver the same 'high' resolution the PS4 had, now say power and 'best' visuals don't matter - its all about the exclusives and MS has 'very few' in the upcoming year. Its a complete 360 (no pun intended) as all those that went to PS4 because it was more powerful, now saying that Power doesn't matter - its that hypocrisy that annoys me. Before anyone accuses me of 'bias', I have owned EVERY PS - and in some cases, more than 1 per generation. I also have the 'day 1' PS4 Pro. In fact in my house now, I have 4 PS consoles going back to the 'first' 60GB PS3 Phat - and yes I did pay 'stupid' money for that when it came out...
This cross-play topic is getting old now but its not helped by Journalists that keep asking 'Xbox' officials about this - especially as MS have a Minecraft custom console coming out soon. I don't see MS bragging about it, just responding to questions about it by Journos who then make big articles about a 'few words' - like in 'discussion with' or 'its up to Sony now' when asked.
I do think its pretty pathetic that 3rd Party multi-platform games have to be 'separated' by platform. People will still buy Xbox or PS based on the Exclusives, controller, game performance etc - All the things that are 'unique' to each. If you want to play Uncharted, Horizon etc, then you buy a PS. You are not going to buy an Xbox 'just' because your 'friend' has one if you don't like the controller or the exclusives. It really shouldn't hurt sales as people will still buy their preferred console.
The ONLY reason its separated is, I think, to get more money, get those 'exclusivity' deals to delay content on the others. If CoD ran on all systems in one big CoD user base, they wouldn't get Sony's money to get the Marketing deal and 1 month timed exclusivity on DLC. Separating them this way is wrong in my opinion.
As I said, people will and should choose their console based purely on the 'unique' games, controller and features - not because your friend bought it. Those that prefer symmetrical controllers and looking forward to Uncharted, Killzone, Last of Us, Days Gone etc are NOT going to buy an Xbox just because a few friends prefer Halo, Forza and Gears and find the asymmetrical controller more comfortable.
If all multi-platform games were 'universal' and could be played in one big amalgamated lobby, do you really think Sony would 'lose' out on sales to MS? Wouldn't all the 'unique' games and distinctly PS features (like the controller) would be enough to entice PS fans to buy PS. Those on the fence may well weigh up the 'pro's and con's' of each and then pick the console that best matches their needs and/or expectations.
All that 'money' on 3rd Party deals, separate servers for each platforms etc could be reinvested into 'games'. Instead of Sony/MS buying up exclusivity of some kind, that money could be used to improve their 'own' unique experiences to entice gamers to pick up their console - not rely on a 'friend' to buy a particular console and then all the 'sheep' follow.
The fact that these devices still offer the 'same' multi-platform games shouldn't factor into the equation. They really should all be 'universal' in that you can play them across platform(s). It should be like 'PC's' - playing the same games, across the same servers etc regardless of whether you are using nVidia or AMD, regardless of whether you bought Alienware or HP, regardless of whether you own a minimum spec or 'high-end' PC. The ONLY differences should be 'exclusives' (maybe slight differences in visual settings etc on multi-platform games - like you see across the vast range of PC hardware) and the OS, controller etc.
@Derpie1 or they simply don't want to give control of part of their system to a competitor who and lets be honest if they hadn't messed up with the XB1 wouldn't even be doing it anyway
they are just trying to grab more users because it XBL users they count nothing else and if more people are using XBL be it on Switch, Mobile or P.C they can count them as users too
M$ and Nintendo to Sony: Hey, you're for the players, want to prove that by allowing cross play?
Sony: Slag off ya bunch'a [word that'd get me banned from posting on Push Square forever]!
Yeah cross play of pubg would be great... Oh, wait...
Sony should do this, if Microsoft are making stupid requests like requiring Xbox live on all PS4s then tell us rather than making everyone think they are the ones who are holding things back.
First the PSN price increase and now this, it's starting to cast a bad light on Sony
@DirectAim it's a business, Microsoft don't need Sony to do them charity work
Like I said the other day, all MS can do now is score cheap PR goals because they've got nothing else going for them.
@BAMozzy Ok lose the Xbox live. Look 4 words to respond to your article.
@DirectAim Why should they care about that better put the money in a Minecraft beating game. Oh we have that already its called Dragon Quest Builders.
It's a petty and anti-consumer move. Not really surprising: whenever a company becomes King of the Hill for an extended period of time, it gets arrogant and runs around kicking ladders down left and right. Because, at the end of the day, these companies aren't #4theplayers and they're not your friends: they're elaborate social mechanisms designed to make as much money as possible.
With that said, just as Sony had every right to call out Microsoft for its plans regarding the Xbone to score cheap publicity points, Microsoft has every right to call out Sony on this issue and score cheap publicity points.
Personally? I couldn't care less, as I play very few multi-player games.
@glassmusic So then why don't Nintendo allow a Mario game on PS4 or MS allow Halo on PS4. It's for the players right??
@Tasuki First party games will always exist. You're using a strawman tactic here by trying to compare to entirely different things.
@Flopsy in the world of PCs yer half wrong...
@Tasuki Welp yeah but then you have Nintendo who allowed it with Xbox and PC... plus Sony has done cross platform play with PC which Sony considers a competitor thanks to the PS4 Pro...
@Derpie1 but I'm not gonna argue w mods... It's thier choice
Microsoft I think should just back off and be happy enough that they can do cross platform play w Nintendo and PC thier efforts are futile
@Ralizah Please zip it if Sony brings a game to Xbox and they ask MS to let people sign in with a PSN account what would happen?
Meh all tit for tat. It is not in the interest of anyone with the biggest install base to do cross play be it MS or Sony or Nintendo. We have to remember we are buying products not supporting your national sports team.
@Tasuki Cross-play for multiplats and console exclusives developed by first party teams are two entirely different things. You make it sound like Microsoft is asking Naughty Dog to release Uncharted 4 on Xbox One or something.
I don't want to play with Xbox LIVE players thanks Microsoft, NEVER in a BILLION YEARS + If Microsoft was winning the Console Wars they would NEVER allow it in a BILLION YEARS to :-/ Just Go Away please MS.
Time to just buy a PC and play with the majority of players
@coplanm
Play what Minecraft?
@Ralizah It's more to do with MS starting the whole issue to begin with, so questions (usually from Eurogamer) are going to be asked.
@Ralizah @glassmusic Are they two different tbings? Basically your asking a business to take money from themselves and give it to a competitor.
Yeah this sucks, and makes the PS4 version if Minecraft the worse one out there to buy.
@BAMozzy
You are very much underestimating the friend factor. I don't buy consoles based on this but among my group of gaming friends I know many people who have chosen a certain console before just on which one most of us were playing on at the time. It is a very big deal and since Sony and MS mainly rely on third party games (multiplat and timed-exclusive), it doesn't make sense for the front runner to give the underdog any kind of competitive advantage and this would certainly only serve to benefit MS. And if it didn't, then I want you, or somebody else here who keeps bashing Sony over this, to answer a question I have asked every time this subject comes up, but still not been given an answer to... If it's all about making things better for everybody why didn't MS agree to do this last-gen, when people were in fact asking for it, when the Xbox 360 was ahead of the PS3? And I want more than something like 'Phil Spencer wasn't in charge' which is the fall back 99% of the time because nobody has an actual good answer. I'm not fooled by Spencer's PR savvy like most gamers are.
@glassmusic
It's actually not a strawman argument. If these companies are really 'for the players' (a lame slogan I've never liked because we know none of these companies are actually for us at all) then why not just open up the floodgates, cross-platform online and games from all companies available for all platforms? That won't happen because in the end we're talking about businesses and from a business perspective Sony benefits ZERO from allowing Xbox players to play against their PlayStation-owning friends without owning a PS console.
@hadlee73 i can imagine there would be literal wars in PvP if it happened with PS4 players on one side XB1 players on the other and Nintendo players trying to referee
actually that could be pretty fun now i think about it
@adf86 Actualy is was the Developer of Rocket Legue that satrted it all by wanting there game to be Cross Platform, Microsoft and Steam said OK, Sony a big fat NO, Its mostly the Developers of the games that want Cross Platform play, Yes Microsoft, Nintendo and Steam are open to it, Its only Sony stoping it.
@Gamer83 I am not underestimating the friend factor at all and I know that some will buy a 'console' based on their friends. But amongst those, if one was adamant they didn't like the brand and their games/controller, they won't be forking out big bucks on that console.
If say one your friends, decides to jump from PS4 to Xbox One X, would all those friends follow? Would their friends follow? If that was the strongest factor in console choice, you could have a mass exodus to Xbox for example. I am sure a lot jumped from Xbox to PS4 because of the power that had. They didn't want to play BF4 at 720p or CoD Ghosts at 900p but what if they jump back to Xbox X because it will 'easily' beat the PS4 Pro...
Of course there won't be a mass exodus. I am sure some will buy the X (like me for example) but still keep their PS4's (& Pro's) too. There may be a small swing in terms of 3rd Party sales on a particular console. If its currently 65:35% split in favour of PS4, there maybe a gradual shift in favour of Xbox, 60:40 for example.
Its clear that the 'Project Scorpio' edition is going to be popular - its sold out virtually everywhere. I wonder how many PS4 owners have pre-ordered and 'moving' to Xbox for the 2nd half of this generation??...
If, as you say' Friends are 'significant' in a decision to buy a brand, then will those 'friends' follow friends over? I think not. Its not easy to find or justify the cost - especially for people with families. If the choice came down to joining a 'brand' because some of your friends jumped across at the start of the Gen, or picking up the console that 'best' fits your preference of controllers/game franchises etc, I think they would more likely stick with their preferred brand. I had MANY friends on XB360 and of those, around half jumped to PS4 because it had the most power, and half stuck with XB1 because that was their preferred console. They didn't follow like Sheep but made a decision based on what they preferred.
It doesn't bother me either way as I have always owned both Sony and MS consoles every gen.
@BAMozzy You say that Project Scorpio is proving popular but I wonder how many units they actually have. I suspect not as many as MS likes us to think they have. Besides selling a console in the first few months isn't exactly hard, it's after Christmas where they will hit problems, especially when they don't have any games to show for it.
You argue that people bought PS4 over Xbox because of "Power" but you forget that Sony delivered a more powerful system for much less the price then xbox. That was the real difference, people looked and thought PS4 is cheaper, more powerful and will probably have better games so it was a no brainer.
@RustyBullet Yeah there another one who won't shut up about it either, besides they have a huge player base between PS4 and PC that they don't need to bring cross platform from Switch and Xbox.
@adf86 The price difference was literally 'Kinect'. The PS4 also did a '4 the players' bundle with the camera and an extra controller that worked out a lot more expensive. When I bought my XB1, it worked out cheaper than buying a PS4 would for me. I had a years Gold left and never bought PS+ because it was unnecessary on PS3. I also had a Season Pass which would only carry up on Xbox - another £40 saved. The games 'bundle' I got and the price I paid for it was less than the '4 the players' edition PS4. I got 4 games in my bundle and you couldn't find a PS4 'bundle' that cheap let alone without the £80 it would of cost to get the PS+ and Season Pass. Like you say though, people jumped to PS4 because it was the most powerful even though the first year or two wasn't exactly 'full' of 'great' AAA exclusives but it was, at least until MS dropped Kinect around 6months after release, the cheapest too. It was 'greatly' helped that literally 'every' game site made such a big deal about the difference in resolution.
As far as XB1X sales go, according to independent sources, it sold out much quicker than PS4 Pro and pre-orders alone have sold more in a day or two than the PS4 Pro has this year. I have heard a 'number' of people who tried to 'pre-order' in retail stores hoping to get a midnight launch console, have been unlucky. The 10-15 units that the 'store' had been allocated, were pre-ordered within hours of the shop opening on Monday. Now if you think that 'every' GAME retail store gets 10-15 units, then there is the online stores like GAME, ShopTo, Amazon, TescoDirect, Argos, MS's own store - all sold out - well apart from Argos as they take the money up front but 100+ orders have been taken so far by Argos online alone and you cannot now pre-order one from their stores. Ebay have a few selling 'pre-order's' from £600-£1000 for the Project Scorpio edition, its proving popular. Obviously I am not privvy to the number Amazon received for example but as one of the largest online retailers, I bet it wasn't a 'small' number.
"According to the Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, Xbox One X managed to beat what PlayStation 4 Pro has sold throughout the year in the USA after just two days of pre-ordering on Amazon."
Of course we will see how well it sells after Christmas and into the new year. It will only be the 'standard' black version but maybe MS will offer some 'bundle' deal. They also do have 'games' for it - games like Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2 as well as games like Forza 7 and Cuphead this year. They also have over 100 games that will be 'enhanced' for the 'X'. Of course it may not have as many 'big' games that 'appeal' compared to Sony but you could be waiting a long time for games like Days Gone and Last of Us 2. We are still no closer to finding out if games like Dreams and Wild will be released soon.
Anyway that's just Exclusives. Its not like games such as AC: Origins, Wolfenstein 2, SW:BF2, RDR2, NFS Payback, CoD:WW2, Destiny 2, Farcry 5, Evil Within 2, Shadows of War, Monster Hunter, Ace Combat 7, PUBG, Code Vein, etc etc etc etc won't be released for the 'X' with better visuals if not Frame Rates too. If that's not 'games' to play on the Xbox, something that can give it the edge over PS4 Pro. I know that the Xbox may not have too many 'big' AAA games in their line-up for the next year but there is still a LOT of games releasing for it, and for those 'new' to Xbox this Gen, a lot of games (inc Exclusives) that will be enhanced too - inc Sunset Overdrive, Gears 4, Forza Horizon 3, Recore, Quantum Break, the Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Doom, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Halo Wars 2, Dead Rising 4 etc - for a console with 'no' games, it certainly seems well stocked...
I couldn't care less myself, I own both. I am still looking forward to Days Gone, Spider-Man etc on my Pro, but I am also looking forward to RDR2, AC: O, SWBF2, Wolfenstein 2, Forza 7 and many of my 'old' unfinished Xbox games in 4k on the 'X'
That is all off topic though. I still see no reason why 3rd Party Multi-platform games can't be unified into 1 giant user base instead of splitting them down to individual platforms. The deciding factor about which console to buy shouldn't come down to 'friends' but the line-up of exclusives and preferences over OS and controller. If Sony has the 'best' exclusives and preferred controller layout, people will buy. It should be no different to PC's with AMD or nVidia GPU's. A game like CoDWW2 for example could be one big user base - with gamers on PC's, XB1's and PS4's all together. Games like Killzone, Uncharted etc would obviously only be PS users - like Halo or Gears only on MS devices. I really think that should be the way things work - the only decision should be based on the 'differences' not the console my 'mate' bought so I have to follow like a mindless sheep because we both play CoD or BF. PS4 probably would still have outsold the XB1 because it would still make cod or BF look better, still have the symmetrical controller, still have the bigger library of 'exclusives'...
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