With the launch of the Xbox One X only a few months away Microsoft needs
an interim win to keep people interested in the console that is
currently in a very distant second place to Sony. Which is why it is no
surprise that Xbox Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg told GameReactor it
was “talking to Sony” about the potential for crossplay between the two
consoles.
Crossplay is the term applied to allowing gamers to play with other
gamers regardless of what console they have chosen to bring into their
homes. It’s a kind of holy grail for gamers stuck on the less popular
console as they’re often not able to play with friends, and because a
small userbase means fewer people to play with in general. With
a reported 33 million Xbox Ones sold since launch Microsoft well behind
Sony, which claims to have sold 60.4 million PS4s since launch.
Given that Microsoft is a little behind, enticing gamers with the tease
of potential crossplay makes a lot of sense. Greenberg, who was in
Cologne, Germany at Gamescon, the largest gaming convention in Europe,
told GameReactor, “It’s a customer first focus and I think that’s where
the industry’s going.” He specifically pointed to the ability to play Minecraft across multiple devices, including the Xbox One, iPhone, and Nintendo Switch.
But as for Sony itself Greenberg said, “We’re talking to Sony. We do partner with them on Minecraft and
of course we’d like to enable them to be part of that one community,
and unite gamers...We’re hopeful that they’ll be supportive of it.”
Yet it makes very little sense for Sony to join the team and unite all gamers across consoles.
“It’s certainly not a profound philosophical stance we have against
this. We’ve done it in the past,” Playstation global sales and marketing
head Jim Ryan told Eurogamer back in June. “We’re always open to
conversations with any developer or publisher who wants to talk about
it. Unfortunately it’s a commercial discussion between ourselves and
other stakeholders.”
That’s because right now it’s the best selling console available and one
of the reasons people continue to buy into it is because it’s the de
facto choice if a person wants to play games with their friends. Playing
nice with the competition simply isn’t in the company’s best
interest—while it could be a potential boon for Microsoft.
