Cross-platform play
The second factor relates to the closed online services used on consoles that are designed to provide a safe and consistent environment for its players that require the businesses' cooperation to open up for cross-platform play.
Up through September 2018, Sony Interactive Entertainment had restricted PlayStation 4 cross-platform play with other consoles, creating a rift between players of popular games like Rocket League and Fortnite Battle Royale.
This was due to the unique processing architecture of each console, making development for each a closed ecosystem and requiring additional effort to port to other systems.
With the availability of the Internet, games have included online multiplayer components, allowing two or more users to play simultaneously on different computer systems.
Games released for a platform may be able to take advantage of platform-specific networking libraries to accomplish this, such as the Winsock layer for Microsoft Windows.
Though digital online services that operate on the computer have become popular since around 2010, these systems typically remain open, providing the developer with tools to take advantage of cross-platform play.
Early attempts at cross-platform play include the 1998 Sega Dreamcast which included a built-in modem; Microsoft worked with Sega to provide a version of Windows CE to developers to make cross-platform games between Dreamcast and Windows players for games such as 4x4 Evo, Maximum Pool, Quake 3 Arena and Phantasy Star Online.
[21][22] A "configuration issue" briefly allowed computer, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One players to play alongside each other in the online cooperative game Fortnite in mid-September 2017.
Sony's Shuhei Yoshida, in discussing the possibility of cross-platform play between PlayStation and Xbox platforms, noted that "the technical aspect could be the easiest" to overcome compared to policy and business-related issues.
[25] Some online services have restrictions on age-related content which prevent certain games from using cross-platform play or to disable certain features to allow it; Dave Hagewood, a lead developer for Rocket League, noted that they had to launch their game, which supports cross-platform play between Windows and the PlayStation 4 versions, without the ability for players to communicate across systems due to content regulations Sony has in place; they were able to later patch in filters to allow for this communications under Sony's service.
[26] Valve had to drop PlayStation 3 and computer cross-platform play from its 2012 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive just before launch as they wanted the ability to patch the game on a frequent basis, which would be limited by Sony's certification process on the PlayStation system;[27] they had similarly tried to bring Steamworks to the Xbox 360 for this game, but also found Microsoft's certification policies to be too restrictive for frequent updates.
The first game under this initiative was Rocket League, allowed users using the Steam-enabled version to play with those on Xbox Live, starting in May 2016,[25] Microsoft extended this invitation to any other online service, including Steam and the Nintendo Switch, with Microsoft's vice president of the Xbox division Mike Ybarra stating "It’s more about gamer choice, more about making an IP on our platform last longer.
During the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 in June of that year, Nintendo announced that it would support cross-platform play between PC and Xbox One versions of both Rocket League and Minecraft on the Switch.
According to Nintendo of America's corporate communications director Charlie Scibetta, the company is "trying to be more flexible and bring more people in" by allowing for cross-platform play, particularly in cases where the developer wants to pursue it.
[44] In April 2011, Valve worked with Sony to create a version of Steam to operate on the PlayStation 3 that enabled cross-platform play for its games, including Portal 2, with computer users.
In 2013, the paid subscription based MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn released on PlayStation 3, PC, MAC, Steam.
[46] While Sony has continued to offer cross-platform play between the PlayStation 4 and computer systems, the company was initially reluctant to allow cross-play with other consoles for the PS4's first five years of availability.
[47] At least three developers, Psyonix (Rocket League), CD Projekt (Gwent: The Witcher Card Game), and Studio Wildcard (Ark: Survival Evolved) stated they have made all the technical requirements to enable cross-platform play between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and would be able to activate these within mere hours of receiving formal authorisation from Sony.
[21][22] Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard said that while they wanted to have cross-platform play for their upcoming online title, Fallout 76, they cannot offer it as "Sony is not as helpful as everyone would like".
[48] Further, Bethesda stated they will only plan to release The Elder Scrolls: Legends card game for console platforms that fully support cross-platform play with computers and mobile devices.
PlayStation global marketing head Jim Ryan said that while they are "open to conversations with any developer or publisher who wants to talk about it", their decision to not participate for these games was "a commercial discussion between ourselves and other stakeholders".
Sony had rejected this as they stated in reply to Epic, "many companies are exploring this idea and not a single one can explain how cross-console play improves the PlayStation business".
[54][55][57] Sony stated in response that they are still open to what players wanted, and that "With... more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we've built a huge community of gamers who can play together on Fortnite and all online titles".
[62] In late June 2018, Sony's Shawn Layden told Eurogamer that the company is evaluating their stance on cross-platform play following the Fortnite issues.
"[64] A few months later, on September 26, 2018, Sony announced it would allow cross-platform play on the PlayStation 4 "for select third party content", beginning with Fortnite that day.
[71] In May 2020, Epic Games released a free SDK, its Epic Online Services, that allow developers to take advantage of its prior work in cross-platform play to support matchmaking, friends list, achievements, and other features in their games, supporting personal computers, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android systems.
[73] Microsoft introduced server-side Realms in June 2016 to enable Minecraft players on Windows, iOS, and Android devices to play together, with Xbox One set to be included in 2017 and eventually support for virtual reality hardware.
