The Xbox Dive Talks about Cross-Play

Today on The Xbox Dive, Chris and James talk about Cross-Play. How important is it for the industry and what the future could hold.

[JaguarEvolved]

Xbox reps should talk about games because that's very important for the gaming industry

[neolego]

I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying that the conversation should be around Exclusives Games and not Cross-Play for 3rd Party games?

[freshslicepizza]

Microsoft allows cross play it is up to the developer of the online services to permit it.

For Call of Duty it was Activision who didn't mandate the cross play feature with Steam. For other games it is likely Steam that does not want its users to have to create Xbox Live accounts for Microsoft published titles.

If anyone can prove Microsoft is preventing it then I would like to see it because that contradicts Microsoft new policy which allows cross play with other networks.

Now when it comes to cross play with games like Rocket League it is Sony who is refusing to allow cross play. Jim Ryan said they don't have a policy against it but the reality is they do when it comes to console cross play. It's a very dumb move and does nothing but make them look silly for not being part of it.

[Aenea]

@moldy
Doing cross play with PS4 can help MS, doing cross-play with Steam does not. Pretty simple how they think there in Redmond...

[freshslicepizza]

@Aenea
"Doing cross play with PS4 can help MS, doing cross-play with Steam does not. Pretty simple how they think there in Redmond..."

Why do you guys carry on about it helping MS? It can also help Nintendo just like it helps the PC. Start talking like a consumer because once you do then the conclusion would be it could help everyone instead of always setting your sites solely on MS. There is no reason for Sony not to, the reason they gave was flaky and dishonest.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ moldybread

Do they? All I'm seeing from you on a consistent basis when it comes to cross-play is that it's bad for Sony to do it but when Microsoft is proven to only allow certain cases of cross-play (just like Sony), it's either worth defending or completely ignored.

Halo Wars: Definitive Edition came out on XB1 and W10 last year with cross-play. Microsoft made that happen. The Steam version of the game came out this year, several months later and Microsoft decided that cross-play wasn't worth it for gamers of Steam and those who bought it on other platforms. I wonder what delicious excuse you're going to bring up to deflect these home truths coming to light to expose your deeply hypocritical agenda.

Stop deflecting your own double standards by telling people to start acting like consumers when you don't even own a PS4, and you're defending cross-play policy and decisions on the PC platform you actually own and game on. You're running scared on this matter, and you've ignored every single time I've utterly exposed your hypocrisy on the matter, on every single cross-play article. Nothing more, nothing less.

Best deconstructed example yet on this article: http://n4g.com/news/2075281...
Just search for "DigitalRaptor" for the pain.

[rainslacker]

Moldy asking for evidence? That's funny. I've asked for evidence of Sony preventing it and he fails to provide and goes into a tirade about the evil Sony. Now he has Ryan stating that there is a reason Sony is preventing it, and twists that to some meaning that it really isn't, or ignores that maybe MS isn't providing Sony with what they feel they need to allow it, which is some sort of moderation of the network for the "protection" of their own users.

Sony allows cross play. Not with other consoles for whatever reason, but it's not like Sony hasn't been doing it for a while.

So, Moldy, I ask for evidence that MS is allowing it without some caveat attached. There must be a reason that other providers aren't allowing it with MS, while they have no problem allowing it with PS. At least on PC. What's the catch with MS? Do you really believe it's just some matter of that it's some corporate belief that it would help or hinder a certain console? That kind of logic may make sense, but it's short sighted thinking for a business.

I asked for evidence long before Ryan made his comment too, yet never once got anything substantial. Now moldy demands it. Rich. Just rich.

[freshslicepizza]

@rainslacker
"Moldy asking for evidence? That's funny. I've asked for evidence of Sony preventing it and he fails to provide and goes into a tirade about the evil Sony. Now he has Ryan stating that there is a reason Sony is preventing it, and twists that to some meaning that it really isn't, or ignores that maybe MS isn't providing Sony with what they feel they need to allow it, which is some sort of moderation of the network for the "protection" of their own users."

The evidence is right in front of you but you don't want to put the blame on Sony. That's your problem. Nintendo allows it with Pure Chess, Sony didn't. The people at Rocket League have said they are ready, Sony denied it. So tell me, what else could it be in both of these situations where you have one game without Microsoft even involved and the other a developer SPECIFICALLLY saying it's only Sony that prevents you from belive it's not Sony?

The burden is now on you to prove it has to do with Microsoft because one game isn't even on the Xbox and the other is made public it's Sony. On top of all that Jim Ryan never once mentioned Microsoft or Xbox Live for why those games are not crossplay allowed.

The dialogue is also not about crossplay with the PC, because even Microsoft did that years ago with Shadowrun. Why you guys are still clinging on to that I will never know. The developers want full crossplay now and Sony doesn't want to do it with consoles. Only the most hardened Sony fan would excuse Sony.

As for crossplay with the PC and Steam. Microsoft already said it's up to the publisher and Activision didn't enable it for Call of Duty. For the game Halo Wars, this is unknown and maybe its because Steam will not allow Xbox Live to work with Steam. Microsoft will of course want Live running just like Minecraft. it's their game. The most logical reasoning would be because it's a Play Anywhere title that will only work through Xbox Live.

[TheVigilanteCode]

I didn't notice this post yesterday, so apologies for being late on the reply.

@DigitalRaptor

"Halo Wars: Definitive Edition came out on XB1 and W10 last year with cross-play. Microsoft made that happen. The Steam version of the game came out this year, several months later and Microsoft decided that cross-play wasn't worth it for gamers of Steam and those who bought it on other platforms."

You're incredibly misinformed in this particular case of crossplay.

1. Halo Wars: Definitive Edition, Halo Wars: Definitive Edition on Steam and Halo Wars: Definitive Edition on the Xbox One doesn't have any kind of crossplay between themselves. Not even the Xbox One and Windows Store versions.

2. Halo Wars 2 doesn't have crossplay between the Xbox One and the Windows 10 version, either.

Source - Me, I don't have an Xbox One (or any console tbh) and play only on PC. I pre-ordered the Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition and got Halo Wars: DE on the Windows Store for free.

And my friend who recently got the standalone steam release of Halo Wars: DE and we can't even play with each other.

Both the games' multiplayer are borderline dead on PC with barely anyone playing.

[rainslacker]

LOL. No, you still don't get it. The "evidence" you provided I refuted, and constantly asked you to provide evidence why I was wrong, but all you did was double down on your initial assertion based on developers who outright said they didn't know what was required. When bigger devs said more, you ignored everything that came up just short of confirming what I had been telling you for about a year before hand.

You didn't provide any evidence. You never have. And it's absolutely hilarious that you now want evidence to show it's MS, but never once accepted anything that called into question your assumptions.

You see, your evidence was nothing more than assumption based on your faulty interpretation of a couple relatively small time devs. Mine assumptions were based on a decade of working in IT security, and knowing more about what would be required to make something like this happen.

Now, we do have Ryan stating that Sony isn't for it in it's current form, which is evidence enough, but you still ignore the subtext of that reason being pretty much what I have been saying for a year now. That Sony can't moderate users on other networks, and they are not OK with that.

I don't need evidence that MS doesn't want it. I don't need evidence that Sony does or doesn't. I'm perfectly willing to accept I don't have the answers. I'd like the answers, and I'm more than willing to discuss it based on what I know, but you just want to assert that you are in the know, when all you do is constantly show you know nothing.

There really is no burden on me. If you wouldn't take the burden for over a year, I feel I have just as much time to prove anything. But I'm not really out to prove anything. I'm only discussing. Me proving something won't mean anything. It won't change the minds of either console maker. To me, the discussion is pretty much where it was since MS suddenly became open to it and suddenly Sony became the bad guy. There are things going on in the back ground that one or both of the companies aren't OK with, and the only change is that apparently Nintendo is OK with accepting whatever terms are involved.

That's it. That's as simple as it gets. There is no other proof to give right now, so the discussion remains the same.

[freshslicepizza]

@rainslacker
"the only change is that apparently Nintendo is OK with accepting whatever terms are involved."

Nintendo was already accepting the terms, long before Microsoft changed its stance on crossplay. Now the only party left who isn't willing is Sony. Those are the FACTS my friend. No need to to evaluate the situation any further. Sony was never and are not now willing to do console crossplay, those are the FACTS.

[DigitalRaptor]

Still don't believe Moldybread has an anti-Sony agenda and is trying to sweep his poisonous hypocrisy under the rug?

Well, this counts as probably the 20th time he's completely ignored my comment that blows his double standards wide open, whereas before I began to expose his agenda good and proper, he was the first person to try and shoot down my responses and turn things around on me and other Sony fans. Now? He's terrified to engage and be exposed further.
-------

" The most logical reasoning would be because it's a Play Anywhere title that will only work through Xbox Live"

This is biggest load of senseless nonsense coming from somebody who is chasing the agenda to promote cross-network play because Sony said no to it on consoles outside the PlayStation ecosystem. See Moldybread, you're just making excuses as to why is acceptable for Microsoft to deny cross-play on competing PC services vs. you calling it anti-consumer of Sony.

"No need to to evaluate the situation any further. Sony was never and are not now willing to do console crossplay, those are the FACTS."

Stop crying about Sony policies on a console you have no interest in and look closer to home.
Microsoft was never and are not now willing to do competing service crossplay on PC, those are the FACTS.
------

@ rainslacker

Moldybread is an unwavering hypocrite, I thought you were already aware of this.
------

@ TheVigilanteCode

Well, if that's true, that's even worse. So much worse.

[DigitalRaptor]

Xbox reps should talk about how they're not providing cross-play between Windows 10 store gamers and Steam gamers on PC, even with their own First-Party that they have complete say over. You know, that one thing that those having a good ride on this cross-play agenda bandwagon are purposefully ignoring.

Oh... But I'm sure Microsoft's actions here are absolutely not a premeditated PR ploy to paint Sony in a bad light whilst distracting gamers from the truth that, just like Sony, they're okay only with certain types of cross-play but making it seem like otherwise.

[neolego]

I see part of your point DigitalRaptor, but I don't know that I agree. Microsoft has an financial interest in PC where it's not the same structure on Consoles. It's just not an apple to apples comparison.

Example, if you want to play Rocket League with your friends on PC you all have steam and can all play it. Then, you will ALSO be able to play that version of Rocket League, on Steam, with Xbox One and Switch Owners.

The Counter point, which I think you are trying to make, is a game like Halo Wars 2. If you buy the Xbox One Version, you get the Win 10 Version thanks to Play Anywhere. Which is why those two games can talk to each other. However, if you want to play with your PC friends, Microsoft offers the full game on Steam. If you want the added feature of playing with Xbox One, then you buy the game there BUT if you want Steam Friends, you buy the game there. As a consumer you get the choice.

The reason I feel like this is different in the console space is, if you are an Xbox Gamer, you can Buy the PSN Version of Minecraft if you want to play with PS4 or the eShop Version if you want to play with Switch. You only get 1 option, the Xbox One version of the game. Microsoft is trying to allow that one Sku to be shared with the gaming community.

Again, I see your point, but I don't fully agree.

[bluefox755]

That's an interesting point, one I hadn't even thought of.

[Goldby]

@Neo.

way off.

hes talkign about things like Advance Warfare not being cross play between Windows 10 and Steam. if they were so focused on this corss play, they would have made that a requirement for the windows 10 version. after all it is quite difficult getting a full lobby in a game that has a player base of like 6 people on windows 10... before the refunds

[Aenea]

@Neo

Ah, because MS has a financial stake in one but not the other it is suddenly okay to not support cross play?

Then why do they want it with PS4?

And why on earth would Sony want it with a platform they have no stake in?

Double standards at it's finest!

---------
Sony doesn't need Xbox, they have their own store to sell games, no need to support cross play with Xbox!

Exact same thing! 😀

[neolego]

@Godlby - I get the CoD issue, but I think that's a rare example that will not happen again. That game tanked hard. It was a trial. There isn't really another game of that magnitude that's done the same thing. If you look at the overall body of work, you can see that they are moving forward in that direction. However, that being said, they are still a business and losing sales on a single machine to a competitor is not something they will just accept. There is no Xbox Store or Win 10 Store on Playstation, so there is no way for them to make money there. What Cross Play does in this case, is give their fan base less reason to jump to another system. However, on PC, they don't need Steam, they have the ability to sell games themselves. That being a bad idea is a different conversation, but in the realm Microsoft operating to make money, not crossing with Stream makes completely sense.

[neolego]

@Aenea - Please don't misunderstand. I am fully aware that these are all business decisions and I don't excuse one and not the other. Sony has everything to lose by opening the door of Cross-Play and Microsoft has everything to gain. Sony shutting it down is a good business move for them. Just like Microsoft not working with Steam is a good business deal for them. However, what is good for business is rarely also good for consumers. While this is an Xbox show, I'm not blind to either of those facts. The point though, is as an Xbox gamer, Cross Play is a huge benefit for the platform and even more so for the future of the industry.

[gangsta_red]

How many first party titles does MS have that are available on Steam that feature cross play? Yes, there may be limits that MS may use especially when they are trying to promote their on Win 10 store, but is that suppose to take away the excuses Ryan made for cross play?

You can deflect the issue and nit pick all you want Digital but the fact remains that MS is trying to make more strides with crossplay between *consoles* than Sony, even when Sony claimed to be all for it last gen.

"...absolutely not a premeditated PR ploy to paint Sony in a bad light whilst distracting gamers from the truth..."

How exactly is MS PR trying to paint Sony in a bad light? MS put the offer out there, they have advertised the games that feature cross play with whatever compatible platforms they could and they have not mentioned PS4 at all when doing so because Sony declined. Now developers and other journalists are the ones talking about this, there's no conspiracy or attempt to undermine Sony.

[Goldby]

@Neo

Gears of War UE and 4 both are on windows 10 store and Steam. and both do not offer Crossplay.

Ms is trying to take back the PC market with Windows 10, why not make it more attractive by offering crossplay with the PC market on steam, afterall, isn't it about everyone playing together, not about what makes sense financially?

or is it the fact that MS already has their money through the purchase of which ever OS the people using steam, so theres no point trying to push them to one store over another. where as on consoles, having crossplay would prevent people from jumping ship to another console to play with their friends.

If Ms was actually serious about crossplay, they would be doing it with their 1st party titles available through steam and windows 10.

no excuses

[neolego]

@Goldby - It looks like we will just have to agree to disagree. Why would Microsoft sell a game on PC through Steam, which cuts into their profitably? They wouldn't. And, at the same time, if Steam users could play with Win10 people, no one would ever buy a Win10 product again.

Consoles are a different landscape because you are not going to see Microsoft 1st party games on other consoles (save for Minecraft, obviously).

The fight on PC is for Money. The fight on consoles is for install base. Example: If Destiny 2 comes out on Win10 and Steam, with no Cross Play, you will buy it on Steam. However, you've already paid for Windows 10 for the machine that you are running in on, no loss for Microsoft. If you buy Destiny on PS4 because your friends play there, now Xbox has lost a sale and a player for whatever time they are away. Cross play in this scenario makes sense, because if I prefer my Xbox but my crew is rolling on PS4, with Cross Play, I don't have to leave the console.

Again, we are just talking about 2 different landscapes here. PC and Console gaming is not apples to apples and can't be directly compared.

[Goldby]

@ neo

"Why would Microsoft sell a game on PC through Steam, which cuts into their profitably? They wouldn't. "

But they did, for more than just Gears.

and while yes, if they sell their games on Steam, valve does take a portion of the money, but that is still money in Ms pockets because they developed and published the games.

and why is is smart to have cross play on Windows 10 with Steam, for exactly the reason you claimed is only for consoles. install base.

Ms is fighting a 2 sided fight, one on consoles and one on the PC. in both cases they are behind the leaders at this current time. so would it not be more attractive for the people who chose to purchase a play anywhere game to also be able to play cross network with the steam users, thus taking away the issue of small player base for their multiplayer games.

lets say game "x" is available on both windows 10 and Steam, and game "x" was devloped and published by MS. would it be more attractive to try and sell a game through windows 10 with only a limited number of people buying it compared to steam which makes it available to alot more users (who dont use windows 10) playing it, or that no matter what version you have, you can play with anyone.

if all windows 10 pc games were crossplay, it would add 1 point to them for tryign to convince me to upgrade. but right now, with how small the user base is on Windows 10 mp games compared to steam, there is no real incentive for me to purchase a game through Windowes store over steam.

steam has a bigger user base

[DigitalRaptor]

@ gangsta_red

Microsoft has proven enough with the first-party games that are on both Steam and Windows 10 that they don't want to do it.

For example, Halo Wars: Definitive Edition came out on XB1 and W10 last year with cross-play. They made that happen. The Steam version of the game came out this year, several months later and Microsoft decided that cross-play wasn't worth it for gamers of Steam and those who bought it on other platforms.

Your comment is just pure and unadulterated deflection to try and extinguish any exposure to the hypocrisy you and your friends like moldybread exhibit on a daily basis, and it's funny that, because over the years you've been one the of the first on here to try and talk about the hypocrisy of a certain slice of the gaming community. But you'll always protect your friends who are on the other side of the fence, so trying to get a truly fair and honest response from you is futile.

So all-in-all, my point isn't that MS are making any more or fewer strides than the competition. It's that Xbox fanboys are sensational hypocrites just like the best of them, and you're protecting your ilk from any kinds of exposure to this. There's a certain somebody on every single cross-play article that attempts to drag Sony through the dirt who doesn't even own a PS4 and primarily games on PC, and despite this lack of cross-play between PC services never ever brings it up. Notice how he's ignored every time I've responded to him about this on cross-play articles and even on this article he's too scared to own up to the truth. Usually you protect his hypocrisy to no end, what happened?

[DigitalRaptor]

LOL.

Moldybread and gangsta_red, are now working together to ignore my comments that blow their double standards wide open. You know, the hypocrisy and thinly-veiled fanboyism that they've been trying to collectively hide for going on years now.

Either that, or they're petrified to engage, in fear of being further exposed on that which they've tried to expose others on for years.

This is too good to be true.

[Death]

Xbox reps do talk about games. For some reason select people ignore it when they do and simply say Microsoft should talk about games instead. Tunnel vision is a weird thing.

[Aceman18]

Is it a neat feature to have sure, but personally i couldn't give two you know what's about i have a backlog of games to play to care about this one feature lol.

[Max-Zorin]

Why even bother? Console gamers on the internet, hate each other. Whether it's PSN, or Xbox Live, etc, people already have to deal with the rotten apples in the community, they're part of. Merging them together, would be a California riot. Kazuya and Heihachi have a better relationship, than the console community.

[neolego]

While I appreciate your thinking and you are probably right, there is a group of gamers out there that actually enjoy playing together. A great example is my brother. He can only afford one platform and he is a Playstation guy. I am an Xbox Guy. We just can't play together and we've accepted that, for years. But to have a game like Rocket League or the next Call of Duty that we could actually play together could be cool.

The greater masses will just make it a mockery, but there are a good number of people that would benefit from it.

[Death]

To further that point, when gaming no one really cares what system you prefer. I used to play with Playstation mods on the 360. I know Xbox moderators that are also friends and we played on Playstation as well. Forums such as this amplify emotions and you see extreme views that aren't typically shared by the majority.

[Bnet343]

Why even bother? What kind of stupid question is that? How about stop trying to hinder evolution of services and shut up? Cross platform is a great feature and it's not like the current console community likes each other anyway so your argument is a silly one. Next.

[xsta1ker]

thats not true max...the fanboys from each side don't like one another and they are the minority
the rest of the gaming community have friends on other platforms and thats why companys & developers
are pushing so hard @ cross play much wider audience.

cross play will become the norm very soon count on it.

[gangsta_red]

Not everyone is filled with rage and hate over a plastic box like you find with the very FEW here on N4G.

You will find that people who own one or the other and even better both are actually just gamers and don't mind or even care that they could be playing the same game with gamers on a different platform.

[TheColbertinator]

This is true. I despise PS4 gamers and abhor the idea of any crossplay on Live or Win10 with those *******. However I am in the minority so who cares what I think.

Crossplay may or may not be the norm. Who knows.

[rainslacker]

Eh, the real world larger player base don't get as involved as we do on forums. There is hate, but it's more a general idiot that comes along and will hate regardless of anything.

In any case, outside of MMO's, most cross play features are random matchmaking with no interactivity beyond the game play with other players. MMO's are a different breed of game for the most part, and given their nature, they tend to be more cooperative so the whole console war thing isn't as much of an issue, if it's an issue at all. PC gamers used to be kind of hostile towards PS2 players back in the day, but in FFXII there was never any animosity between players on the different platforms because people were having fun playing the games. The only harassment was the typical harassment you'd see in any online venture.

[TheVigilanteCode]

Cross platform play between the 3 consoles for all third party games must become a standard.

The most hypocritical thing about the current state of this feature is that all 3 companies are okay to open their platform to allow PC players in (with not just the hardware advantage but we also enjoy the console's user base as well for games that will be dead online on PC otherwise), but when it comes to an entirely other console, they either step back or provide vague answers.

Whether it was Microsoft last generation when they were in the lead and they denounced cross platform play with ps3 or Sony this time with their sales lead over the Xbox one which Microsoft will never catch up for the rest of this generation, both of them should allow it going forward just for multi player game communities to last longer. If you want, go ahead and even cut PC from this, but unite all 3 consoles which are on a level playing field for your consumers.

[rainslacker]

This is likely more due to the direct competition of the console market, and the nature of whatever each company will require to allow connectivity with another console. Lots of beuracratic BS is what's holding this up, but to these companies, their policies take precedence over allowing the feature, and since it's still kind of in the early stages that this has become such a big topic, it'll likely be a while before all that gets resolved.

I'd like to think they're still working on it. But with MS execs kind of poking the bear with Sony on the topic, it does make me question if it's going anywhere. So it's possible that MS is trying to pressure Sony to accept their terms by poking, or the poking is because Sony is just outright against it, and they want to put pressure on Sony for whatever reasons. The only other option would be that there are talks going on, and MS execs are not to bright to keep poking Sony about the issue while they work it out on the back end.

I really don't believe that Sony is against cross play on principal. They have been doing it for too long to make that a reasonable final conclusion. I do think they are against whatever there is right now to make cross play between consoles a reality. Whatever that is is only known by those involved in making it happen.

[j15reed]

All they have to do is make it versus the other consoles, so you would still have to buy that console in order to play on the same side as your friends.

[pundrang]

A new nintendo player who wants to find a more convenient seat, but has no answer, turns to the big god on BBS

[segamaniaco]

This subject is already fading