The age old question debated for thousands (since the 90’s?) of years – who’s better? Xbox Gamers or Playstation Gamers?
Well what if the answer lies in a HUGE TOURNAMENT where players from both sides get to battle it out using the same game, but on their own platform?
We could be closer to this reality than you think with a massive announcement coming from Microsoft marketing manager Aaron Greenberg:
“We’re talking to Sony [about cross-play]” he told Games Reactor.
The two console companies already partner on Minecraft and in a round-about way, other games like Rocket League also are enjoyed on cross-console, but the word on the street is that Sony isn’t too keen on the idea going any further..
Xbox executive Dave McCarthy told Gamespot that discussion with Sony took place at E3 earlier this year but also mentioned “they weren’t quite there yet on support for that” however he remains hopeful adding that “it’s an awesome thing to do for gamers.”
We couldn’t agree more!
For so long it has been a dream of players around the world to be able to play the great multiplayer games against their mates but on the consoles that they love and it seems a no brainer that this is only a good thing for the industry – it would see play rates skyrocket!
The unfortunate thing for Microsoft (and the reason we think Sony aren’t ready to come to the party yet) is that Sony is well ahead in sales and competition. It was reported in January 2017 that Playstation 4 was just about to hit 60 million units sold worldwide, while Microsoft languished behind by more than half having sold only 26 million units – both consoles were released in 2013 and the issues plaguing Microsoft sales can be tracked all the way back to launch:
- Higher price point: $499 compared to $399 (USD)
- A better gaming subscription service was found to be on the Playstation which already had a huge base because the PS3 was free to join
- A heap of way better exclusives on PS4 (Horizon Zero Dawn / Days Gone / God Of War / The Last Of Us [part 2 on the way]) while Microsoft really only had the Halo Series of note
- A poor launch message:
Microsoft confused customers by pushing the Xbox as a home media centre
Sony hit the right points by pushing the Playstation as the best gaming console ever made
You can’t blame Sony for holding off cross-console gaming, at the moment a genuine buying decision when it comes to which side of the fence a gamer sits on is “what are my mates playing” – and right twice as many people answer that question with Playstation, cross console gaming would open up a lot of those Sony owners to at least looking at the Xbox and if Microsoft were to get everything else right and learn from its mistakes, it’s not a far jump to assume a few people would go further and move onto the Xbox platform.
There’s one thing both companies must consider though – PC Gaming!
There has been a resurgence in the last 5 to 10 years as PC gaming manufacturers create world leading technology which is easy to assemble and install, and easy for people to pick up and play. I know with my own experience I have really only had a high end gaming PC for about 6 months, and in that time I haven’t touched my PS4! The ease of using things like discord and steam, how much cheaper games are, and how it’s so easy to play on the highest resolutions in the biggest MOBA gaming spaces has turned me off my console.
This is something that console creators have to consider, sure Microsoft is about to release the Xbox One X with 4K gaming, but the issue they face is people still have to spend thousands to buy a 4K capable TV – the money you spend on a 4K capable TV just to use a platform that heaps of game developers won’t be using to its full potential until more of these TVs enter households would buy you a PC gaming rig that would make all of your friends very very jelly….
Cross-console platforming is a barrier to losing gamers to other forms of gaming because it opens up more opportunity to keep gamers on console.
Food for thought Microsoft and Sony.
