It’s a question I’ve asked many times in my life as a gamer. Since online play became universally accessible and supported by developers gamers have sought out other gamers with which to indulge their passion. It can be quite hard finding people who admit to gaming in the first place, let alone finding one than has the same machine as you. Many times I’ve posted a FIFA 16 status on Facebook to be asked what I play on. At least 50% of the time my response of ‘PS4’ is met with a dejected sigh and the words ‘Xbox One’. Conversation over.
Those conversations may soon be a thing of the past, especially if the words of Chris Charla, director of ID@Xbox are to be believed. In a statement released today he spoke of developments in cross network play:
First, in addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live, we’re enabling developers to support cross-network play as well. This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.
The key words here are the last five words of the paragraph… ‘other consoles and PC networks’. Without saying the actual words PlayStation 4, we all know exactly what he means. Technology to allow cross console gaming will soon be available to developers.
It seems a logical step for the industry to take. It is frustrating finding a fellow gamer who is into the same games as you but on a different console and it has been the basis of many hardware purchasing decisions by gamers. If six or seven of your friends have an Xbox One your infinitely more likely to buy one yourself. Nobody wants to be held back by their machine in social circles.
What this news potentially gives us is a much more accessible and modern gaming world. The question of which machine you owned would be academic and the world of the online gamer would instantly become much more all encompassing. In the modern world something as secretly popular as gaming needs to bat down any barriers it has, and cross machine compatibility does that.
You’d also expect Sony to follow suit pretty rapidly. There’s no doubt Xbox 360 lost ground to the PS3 because of the HD DVD against Blu-Ray and I’m sure Sony wouldn’t want the same to happen to their PlayStation 4
There’s no reason why game developers wouldn’t take the chance to make games compatible. You’d imagine the popular franchises such as COD and FIFA would dip their toe in first, but pretty soon any game with a heavy reliance on online play will surely follow suit. Expect the landscape of online gaming to change for good. Now, finally Chris Judson can experience my superior FIFA skills and stop hiding behind the Xbox excuse!
