Microsoft Announces Cross-Network Play: Play Xbox Live Games with PSN

Chris Charla, the director of ID@Xbox announced recently that they will be rolling out cross-network play, allowing gamers to play Xbox Live games with other multiplayer networks. They were really careful not to say it explicitly, but we all know they mean the PlayStation Network, whether or not Sony will release a similar statement to confirm remains to be seen.

UPDATE: Sony issued a response to GameSpot practically confirming it’s compatibility with cross-network play.

“PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002,” Sony states.

“We would be happy to have the conversation with any publishers or developers who are interested in cross platform play.”

Rocket League, the popular vehicle-based soccer game by Psyonix will be the first game to take advantage of this feature and only time will tell which games will take advantage of this feature in the coming years.

 

Cross-Network Play
First, in addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live, we’re enabling developers to support cross-network play as well. This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.

Of course, it’s up to game developers to support this feature, and Xbox Live players will always have the option of choosing to play only with other Xbox Live players. We’re thrilled to confirm that Psyonix’s Rocket League will be one of the first games to take advantage of this new capability by enabling cross-network play between Xbox One and PC players, with an open invitation for other networks to participate as well.

The thought of finally being able to play your multiplayer games against those in other networks is undoubtedly exciting, though it’s highly unlikely that this feature will be retrofitted to games that have already come out, so don’t get your hopes up about that. But it’s nice to think about all the possibilities this move might bring to the gaming industry.