Rocket League developer Psyonix has responded to Sony’s denial of cross-platform support with Xbox One and Nintendo Switch players. This is all becoming quite a mess, so let’s do a quick recap.
First, Rocket League was announced for the Nintendo Switch. While this would be exciting by itself, it was also revealed that Switch players will be able to play with Xbox One and PC gamers as well, thanks to cross-platform support between the companies. Take note that PS4 players are not included in here.
When asked why the PS4 would not support cross-platform play, the PlayStation global sales and marketing leader Jim Ryan told Eurogamer, “ We have a contract with the people who go online with us, that we look after them and they are within the PlayStation curated universe. Exposing what in many cases are children to external influences we have no ability to manage or look after, it's something we have to think about very carefully.”
In other words, won’t somebody think of the children!?
Microsoft was the first to fire back by responding specifically about Minecraft players. Minecraft is another game that will feature cross-platform support with everyone but Sony as well.
“The fact that somebody would kind of make an assertion that somehow we’re not keeping Minecraft players safe, I found — not only from a Microsoft perspective, but from a game industry perspective — like, I don’t know why that has to become the dialogue,” Xbox head Phil Spencer said in an interview with Giant Bomb. “Like, that doesn’t seem healthy for anyone.”
Now Psyonix is getting into the fray, joining along with Microsoft by saying Sony is full of it. “I understand that stance [of protection]. We want to take care of our players,” Psyonix publishing boss Jeremy Dunham told VentureBeat. “But from our perspective, if PlayStation already allows cross-network with PC, which is the least regulated of any of the partners, then in theory, having Xbox and Switch in there should be fine. They’re a lot more regulated. From our perspective that concern is already handled. That’s taken care of.”
“Xbox has the highest security of any of the platforms. If we can pass that, we can pass any of the other security protocols,” Dunham added. “We run our own servers. We run our own matchmaking. None of the platforms are aware of what’s going on in the other’s ecosystem. We control all that.”
According to Dunham, the technology is already there as well. The only real thing holding proper cross-platform support back are “political barriers.”
As fellow Player.One writer ND Medina said, nobody’s buying it, Sony. If you want to try and get your voice heard, there’s a Change.org petition and a suggestion to use #ps4crossplay across social media.
So what do you think? Are you bummed to see Sony’s decision regarding cross-platform support? Are you chuckling along with every company who keeps piling on the “this is dumb” statements? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
