On Monday, Microsoft announced it wants to allow Xbox One gamers to play against PC and PS4 users.
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In a video interview with Eurogamer, Yoshida leads off by pointing out Sony’s history of allowing for cross-platform play between PlayStation systems and the PC, as in recent releases like Rocket League and Street Fighter V. However, there are obviously issues on the business side that would need to be worked out: “We also have to look at policy issues and business issues as well”.
The Xbox-maker’s announcement of cross-platform play is what every online gamer dreams of.
This means that there are now more players on competing platforms, and Microsoft is now the underdog.
Microsoft is getting cross-platform support for its Xbox players, who would soon be able to play online multiplayer games with gamers on other gaming consoles like PS4, Xbox One and even PC.
In a genius move, Microsoft officially announced Xbox Live cross-network play support, in addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live.
If Sony gives the nod for cross-network multiplayer games between PlayStation 4 and Xbox, it could be a significant milestone for the gaming industry.
Well that’s marvellous, but what about PS4 and Xbox One cross-network play? “We also have to look at policy issues and business issues as well”, stated Yoshida.
Sony responded a day later to GameSpot, suggesting that they may be open to the idea in the future.
Microsoft’s announcment firmly put ball in Sony’s court as to how things could proceed and now Sony have come back with a rather shaky corporate response.
Microsoft has not been offering sales data of its own, with estimates putting the Xbox One around 20 million units, and cross-platform play might be a way to give it a boost in the coming year.
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According to The Games Cabin, this update is only 300.5 MB, so it shouldn’t take very long to download if you do not have it yet.
