The cross-platform play controversy has come out into the open again recently, thanks to multiple smaller developers calling Sony out on alleged favoritism when it comes to allowing implementation of the feature on their console. Sony’s Shawn Layden refuted these claims, only for another developer to explicitly and flatly disagree with what he had said, which only added to the drama.
Now, Gaijin Entertainment, the folks who originally called Sony out on their lack of consistency when it comes to cross-platform play, have issued a follow-up statement to Wccftech, where they very explicitly say that most developers are now ready to implement the feature, unlike back when War Thunder first launched, and the feature was relatively new.
“Most, if not all the developers whose titles support cross-play are ready to ‘toggle the switch’ and let full cross-play happen,” they say in their statement. “We’ll be happy if the quote from the Game Informer interview means that getting cross-play clearance will get faster, and will be waiting for the news from our account manager.”
They add that they laud Nintendo and Microsoft for not putting any obstacles in the way of the implementation of the feature, noting the various benefits provided by cross-platform play, and talking about further additions that can be made to make the experience richer for players, such as cross-platform parties and voice chat.
“At Gaijin, we are happy to see that Microsoft and Nintendo went further, allowing cross-console play for all the developers. We are sure that full cross-play is the future of gaming, considering the constantly growing popularity of online titles. For these games, especially those with tier base matchmaking, cross-play is almost essential, as it significantly shortens waiting time for a battle, thus providing better gaming experience. Not to mention that cross-play allows gamers to play with their friends, no matter which platform they are using.
“United matching would be a big step on the way to full cross-play, but only the first one. Voice chat is also important and it’s good to see that Sony allows developers to have cross-platform voice chats in their games. All platform holders should probably iron out their positions on voice/regular chats, ideally allowing seamless experience in all cross-play games for all players regardless of the platform they personally prefer. Next big thing will be cross-platform account migration when players can either play on PC using their console accounts or switch from PC to console saving the progress and purchases. But united matching is what can be already done to provide players with a better gaming experience.”
There are many who like to claim that there are no benefits to something like cross-platform play, but increasingly, we are seeing developers come out and provide tangible evidence of how a game can benefit from the feature. Hopefully, all this noise causes Sony to buckle in full when it comes to cross-platform play with other consoles.