An Xbox boss has come out to say again that Microsoft has the technological pieces in place to support Xbox One–PlayStation 4 cross-play and now all that’s left to do is sort out the politics of the mater.
ID@Xbox Europe boss Agostino Simonetta told Eurogamer that, as we’ve heard before, Psyonix’s Rocket League may be the first game to support Xbox One-PS4 cross-play. But as for when it will happen…
“As a platform we don’t force developers to release at any point–it’ll be when the developers are ready.”
Asked directly if all the technology required for Xbox One-PS4 cross-play was in place, Simonetta said, “Absolutely–we’re ready. Rocket League is the first game–and it is a heavily network-orientated game.
“Any title that wants to update their game to include cross-network play, any title that wants to launch soon and take advantage of that, we are ready.”
Simonetta reiterated that Microsoft has extended an invitation to any network that wants to connect to Xbox Live, including PlayStation Network. Asked if Simonettea has heard any encouraging news on this front (he used to work at Sony), he only said, “We can only say: we’re ready. We’ve done our bit and we welcome anyone who wants to take part.”
Eurogamer’s interview with Simonetta also touches on the Xbox One’s new devkit functionality and more. Go here to read it.
In March, Microsoft made the announcement that it will support cross-platform play between Xbox One, Windows 10, and other “online multiplayer networks.” The move effectively opens the Xbox Live platform so that it can accommodate players on Sony’s PlayStation Network, among others.
Rocket League was announced as being one of the first games to support Xbox One-PC cross-play (there was no cross-play support for Rocket League’s Xbox One edition at launch), while the invitation has been sent to Sony as well.
“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,” Microsoft’s Chris Charla explained at the time.
“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 consoles and PC networks.”
Later in March, Psyonix boss Jeremy Dunham talked about the benefits of connecting Xbox Live and PlayStation Network for Rocket League, adding that the only thing left to work out was the politics of the arrangement.
Although Microsoft has extended an invitation to other platforms and networks to connect with Xbox Live, Sony has not yet committed to opening up the PlayStation Network to Xbox players.
Responding to Microsoft’s invitation, Sony issued an encouraging but indecisive statement.
“PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002,” it said. “We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross platform play.”
Would you like to see Xbox Live-PlayStation Network cross-play? Let us know in the comments below!
