[Updated] Microsoft Opens The Door For Cross-Console Play

Published: March 14, 2016 8:14 PM /

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Xbox or Playstation

Update: Game Informer was able to talk to Vice President of Publisher and Developer Relations for Sony, Adam Boyes, at GDC about Microsoft's announcement on cross-network play and he had this to say: 

"For us, it's not a new thing...If you go back to PS3 days, we had Dust 514 tied into EVE Online. Paragon is PS4/PC cross-play, and so is Street Fighter V. There are a ton of games that have had it. Portal 2 had Steam integration, and we've had other games that have allowed you to import your Xbox save content on PlayStation, like Diablo III and Grand Theft Auto V. We're always open to stuff like that...It's all about what the developers and publishers want to do. They get in touch with us and handle everything on a case by case basis. I think we have to analyze what the impact is going to be and how the hand-off works...Our publishers know their business very well, so we always want to look at those opportunities."


Today in a post about ID@Xbox, ID@Xbox Director Chris Charla has announced Microsoft's support for cross-network play between Xbox One, PC and potentially the PlayStation 4. It will still be up to developers if they want to enable cross-network play and up to Sony if they want to allow it as well, but Microsoft is officially supporting it. 

Psyonix's Rocket League has been announced as the first game that will allow Xbox One and PC players to play against each other, as well as "...an open invitation for other networks to participate as well." This statement puts the ball in Sony's court as to whether they will allow for cross-platform play between Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This would be a huge development in the video game world if Sony gets on board with cross-network play in games. As of right now cross-network play will  probably only be used mainly by indie games, but the potential for AAA games to use the feature in the future is there. As a nice little bonus concerning cross-play Charla said, "In fact, a little bird told us that tweeting @idarbgame might get you a token to test out cross-play as part of a soft launch now!" 

Charla also announced a few other bits of new information about things going on with ID@Xbox in his post. MonoGame support will be coming to Xbox One, and the first game to feature it will be Tom Happ's Axiom Verge. MonoGame will be Microsoft's solution to allowing Microsoft's XNA programming framework to be supported on the Xbox One and it will be coming with the help of Tom Spilman and Sickhead Games. This will open up the opportunity for more games to come to the Xbox One in the future, that use the XNA framework. 

Lastly, Charla wrote about continued support for Xbox Game Preview and ID@Xbox overall. Xbox Game Preview has seen games such as The Long Dark, and Layers of Fear and Microsoft is looking to keep up the support so more games will have the opportunity to utilize the Xbox Game Preview program in the future. He also wrote about wanting to make sure there was a sustainable marketplace for ID@Xbox games on the Xbox One saying, "We don’t just want to provide a platform to ship games, we want to provide a marketplace where games have the opportunity to sell, so developers can achieve commercial success and keep doing what they love to do – make great games for us to play!" 

What do you think about being able to play against PlayStation 4 players on your Xbox One and vice versa? Do you think Sony will take Microsoft up on their offer? Share your thoughts in the Comments!

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Kyle Downey TechRaptor
| Staff Writer

Staff Writer looking to keep you both informed and entertained. Favorite games include: Pokemon, Overwatch, Golden Sun, Portal, and Elder Scrolls.

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Rocket League
Game Page Rocket League
Developer
Psyonix
Publisher
Psyonix
Release Date
July 7, 2015 (Calendar)
Genre
Racing, Arcade, Sports
Purchase (Some links may be affiliated)