A sports game about cars playing soccer could change the face of multiplayer gaming as players know it. Last week, Psyonix, creators of Rocket League, spoke with [a]listdaily about the potential of cross-platform play between Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft’s Xbox One and Windows PC platforms, and its impacts.
Speaking with Gamespot, Psyonix vice president Jeremy Dunham explained, “Technologically, everything works, we’ve got it figured out, just a little bit of time to get everything up and running. Right now, excitement is the best way to put it. We just want to get in there and make it happen.
“The only thing we have to do now is sort of find out where we stand politically with everyone, and then it’s full steam ahead to finish the solution that we’ve already started.”
But what does cross-platform play mean in the long run? Dunham goes on to state, “More players, for everyone, means more games, and more games means more participation and community feedback, which we can then put into the game as a whole and not have to worry about siloing off certain features or certain platforms because this version doesn’t have it, or whatever the situation may be.”
A lot of players may think that supporting cross-platform play with both Xbox and PlayStation systems could mean a lot of red tape. But it appears as though Microsoft and Sony are seemingly on board with the idea.
Microsoft already confirmed that it’s fully supporting cross-platform play on Xbox One, with Rocket League being one of the first supported titles, and “an open invitation for other networks to participate as well.” Sony responded with, “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. We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross-platform play.”
This could potentially be huge for players who felt like they were being shut out from their PlayStation 4 friends for owning an Xbox One version of Mortal Kombat XL. It could also be a big selling point for both consoles, compared to other game platforms that don’t support the feature. After all, not everyone is really bred to be a PC gamer, preferring the simplicity of a game console instead. Since both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 offer diverse first-party exclusives, along with third-party hits like Tom Clancy’s The Division, they’re both likely to be huge draws.
For now, the process is going slow but steady, with Psyonix working on its technology to make sure that match-ups go smoothly. From there, Sony and Microsoft are bound to speak more with publishers about the possibilities of cross-platform play.
In the meantime, fans can enjoy Rocket League now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, which will be taking sign-ups for the Rocket League Championship Series eSports event on March 25.
