Evolutions in gaming come in all shapes and sizes. And sometimes, they come in unexpected ways, such is the case with Cross-Play. The feature is one that allows people from one console to play with people from another. At one time, this was very much impossible for a number of reasons. But then, Rocket League broke down that barrier and made it possible. Minecraft did it next, and Fortnite might be the next one to step up to do it. And if it were up to Nintendo, more would be on the way.
Nintendo and Microsoft are the only two major console developers who support Cross-Play, they even made a commercial about it with Minecraft to show how much better it is to play together. During a shareholders meeting, Nintendo’s Susumu Tanaka noted this:
“Crossplay basically comes about from conversations between publishers and platform holders. We are inclined to do what we can to help publishers incorporate crossplay when that is what they want. The other parties involved also have a say in whether we are able to reach this outcome or not, so we will continue to discuss it with them.”
The possibilities for Cross-Play in other titles is very large. For example, there are fighting games out there that could have the possibility. Or racing titles. There are even a few sports games that could use it to bring gamers closer together. The potential is out there, developers and publishers just need to act on it.
Which brings us to Sony, who have been very hesitant, if not downright blocking, of the notion. They claim that this is because of the gamers, who don’t want their “privacy” affected through it, but gamers have called them out and said they’re fine with it. If they do come and join the party, there’s even more potential for the future.
