Shots Are Fired In This New Minecraft Cross-Play Trailer

I've giffed that ending for future, and seemingly frequent, use.

This is all so perfectly timed. Throwing shade left and right.

Magnifique.

Those colours are strangely familiar...

... oh, right.

Or could be just that it makes sense because they are the consoles featured colours? You guys love to grasp at straws.

However an actual dig at Sony, I giggled when Microsoft tweeted Nintendo asking if they wanted to play fortnite later.

Sony is making money hand over fist. They don't care about this issue, and neither do most gamers.

This ad seemed so surreal. Never would I have thought there would be one with Switch and Xbox players playing side by side.

Dang...shots fired. Not sure if Sony is going to care though.

@Ralizah your way of thinking reeks of corporate apologies and 20th century business practices. Get on with the times, open platforms are the future

#nothingburger

If ever there was a trailer that makes me want to play minecraft, it's that one.

Haha..!
Sony was NOT Invited in Minecraft Party.

@gatorboi352 Sony pony alert

Oh I get it now she's wearing green because xbox and he's wearing red because switch

Love it!

WIG SNATCHED!

@Savino Kinda ominous.
Xbox and Nintendo - Survive together against the hegemony of Sony

@Knuckles-Fajita
Link to GIF please.

Love this a lot, my two favorite gaming companies being chill.

@Savino
Nintendo and Microsoft are Friend now.

@SirYodaJedi On Twitter. Go hunting through my profile

Should have had a kid come in wearing blue with a dualshock saying "can I play?", and the other two answer "NO!"

Indeed, without the context of Sony's policy, there would have been no reason to demonstrate different console ecosystems coming together when you're advertising cross-platform play.

Or would there?

Ha that's actually brilliant. Throwing shade indeed

I did chuckle when both Microsoft and Nintendo throw shade at Sony that involved Fortnite, but this seems far fetched on taking shots on them. I mean, the Fortnite situation already places them in a bad spot

@MasterJay
"Should have had a kid come in wearing blue with a dualshock saying "can I play?", and the other two answer "NO!"

LOL

Calling it a shot against Sony is a stretch, but not implausible so whatever. Still funny as hell.

I'm just chuckling at that when Nintendo is ahead of Sony in terms of one part of online, you know Sony is tripping.

M-M-M-M-M-M-MONSTER KILLLLL-KILL-KILLLLL

Did anyone catch Major Nelson at E3 walking around with his switch? talking to ppl about playing on fortnite lmao

This bromance is legit!

Can someone point me to the 'shots fired'/'throwing shade' bit? I mean, I know Sony wasn't featured, but that much was to be expected in an advert for cross-play because Sony doesn't support cross-play. Was there any part where Sony's absense was specifically referenced or poked fun at?

@Anti-Matter Might as well give him a tattoo on his forehead saying "Property of Sony," since even if he tries to cut off everything that asociates him with them, he still won't be able to play on other platforms (Fortnite)

I feel this is more the companies and media that are really bothered about this. Not sure most gamers give two s**ts tbh...

@Maxz It wouldn't be "throwing shade" if they specifically mentioned Sony.

@chardir No, but I wondered if there was a subtle reference or something. Is there?

Or is it just 'Sony wasn't featured in an ad promoting a functional they don't support'?

I mean, I don't mind. I'm not complaining. I just wondered if I missed something.

Not sure why Sony would care about cross-play? It's not like Minecraft is one of the best-selling games of all time or anything?

Oh wait...

Actually @datamonkey, I do care. Being able to play certain online games with your friends no matter what platform you're on is incredible. I prefer Nintendo platforms over Microsoft's, but I have plenty of Xbox friends from the 360 days. Getting to play this, Rocket League, and Fortnite with them despite not being on the same platform is a huge deal. Hopefully all third party games with online multiplayer do this in the future.

@Ralizah "neither do most gamers." Speak for yourself. Many many people out there actually care about this subject. It keeps games alive,bring communities together. It doesn't hurt a single soul.

I would ban cross play too if I were Sony. Half of my Splatoon 2 matches has one player getting disconnected. I guess most Switch players connect their console to he web with a 14k4 modem or a Nokia 3310. For some reason, Nintendo players online always have terrible connections (same for Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS)

I saw zero shots fired

But I’m loving this crossplay

So much for Sony being the savior of gaming and company that does everything that is ethically right according to their fanbase.

@Savino Make it "Thrive together" and it's even better...

@westman98 And of course Rocket League and Fortnite...

And I wouldn't be surprised at ALL, if more games will follow. Except not for Sony, of course. No (sharing with) other platform shenanigans for them.

Sony is only "for the stayers"...

Veery nice, I'm glad that Nintendo and Microsoft are good at working together.

Best Nintendo TV spot ever.

@JayJ The #4theplayers thing was always posturing. Now that Sony is back to dominating the console market again, there's no reason to pander to gamers online.

These companies don't care about you.

@gortsi I'm not apologizing for Sony. I don't think that cross-play should be limited between platforms. But it's only a loud minority online that actually thinks this is a big issue that will hurt Sony at all. They're the market leader, and while it might temporarily net them some bad PR, it won't matter at all in the long run. They're still going to keep making money and using the promise of a gigantic, walled-off player base to sell systems to people.

@MsJubilee Why "soyboy," though? If you want to employ a pathetic right-wing slur, then "cuck" is more acceptable for generalized dismissal of someone, right? "Soyboy" is an insult against someone's masculinity, which... doesn't really make sense in the context of what I posted.

Either way, like I said, I'm not apologizing for this, I'm just saying it's not going to matter in this console generation. I'll be surprised if people are still talking about this in a year.

The second and third place runners in the console race teaming up to take shots at the leader? What a concept! It doesn't make them look desperate or petty at all

@RedMageLanakyn Although not as pathetic as Sony being Sony.

And of course, all of this buddy-buddy stuff will pave the way for all those Rare classics on the N64 Mini...

But Rare Replay on Switch is also just fine by me, Phil...

@Ralizah There's nothing "minor" about the number of people playing Minecraft, Rocket League and Fortnite. That's millions upon millions of people.

Denying them access to friends with other consoles purely because of a completely fabricated BS reason that it's for the so-called safety and security of their own player base is ridiculous, to say the least. Whether you're the best selling console or not.

If they keep it up with these kinds of backward thinking things, that could change VERY rapidly in the coming generation...

@ThanosReXXX It was nearly a tie last gen for 360, PS3 and Wii so I don't expect Sony to be as lucky as now next generation.

@BlueOcean Yeah, they did some quick reputation repairs in the last half of that generation, to make up for the stupid things they did, such as removing backward compatibility, and a couple of other things, that I don't even care to remember.

Oh, wait. It was the Linux thing. P****d off a lot of Sony owners. So, backwards thinking then, backwards thinking now.

It almost sounds like they haven't learned anything. Something they actually always accuse Nintendo of...

It's Wii60 all over again.

@judaspete Except SwOne doesn't sound nearly as cool...

@BlueOcean Awful lot of salt in the ocean it seems! For how pathetic they are, they're still coming out with great games and selling more consoles. Truly pathetic!

Don't worry Sony, I've already got the reveal covered for you!

Surprisingly it only took like 3 minutes to make this though. XD

@ThanosReXXX It's pretty clear that Sony is leveraging its enormous player base by disallowing cross play. When you've sold more consoles than the competition has combined, saying that you'll need to buy a PS4 to play with most of your friends, who are likely also mostly playing on PS4, is a powerful tactic. Especially combined with Sony's compelling slate of exclusive releases and a now low-ish entry fee for the base PS4.

@RedMageLanakyn Yes, Nintendo and Microsoft don't have games. We play with the TV off, actually. Saves energy, too.

You are the salty fanboy, I just replied to your hilarious comment.

Cross progression is good.
Cross play is bad- longterm.

It's funny to see gamers push for this and completely play into the publishers hands.
The end goal of open platforms is to remove the middle man- the platform holders. Once streaming becomes viable, console gaming becomes an afterthought.

MS are heading towards services & PC. Nintendo can/will do their own thing, but Sony either become a publisher or leave gaming.

As a fan of console gaming I'm glad Sony is sticking to it's guns.

Once you open pandoras box, you can't close it... .
Let's enjoy closed platforms for as long as we can.

@BlueOcean I never said they didn't, and I own all three consoles and have great games for each. This mud slinging contest (which is one sided considering Sony already said deal with it) is just getting old and ridiculous. And if you believe for one second that this TV ad would even exist if either Nintendo or MS was in the lead, man I feel sorry for you!

@Ralizah No it's not a powerful tactic at ALL. It's a severely limiting, archaic way of thinking tactic. Cross play is one of the staples of the future, so they need to get with the program, whether they want to or not.

And making up bogus reasons for why they won't do it, isn't really helping them either. It's also gamers on the Playstation, that would like to experience cross-play with their other console owning friends, so they're not protecting their audience, they're trying to control them and in doing so, they are hurting that part of their audience, that might actually be interested in this.

Both Nintendo and Microsoft are rapidly improving, and gaining more traction, which is an indicator for things to come, in the next generation.

Yes, Sony has some great games, and very interesting IP's, but that alone isn't enough. Being ahead means working to STAY ahead. Right now, Sony is standing perfectly still, in more ways than one.

@RedMageLanakyn Good for you, I also have a PS4 here, but this move by Microsoft and Nintendo is positive while Sony is getting more arrogant and less consumer-friendly every day. Since Spencer is the boss Xbox is getting better and better and I don't think that they will go backwards now or next generation. They have a very good reputation now and they will take care of it. And they just bought four studios and created one to have more games!

@BlueOcean Oh no, he broke out "fanboi" and edited his comment. Time to block!

Does this mean that Xbox players can come over online and visit the Mario themed worlds exclusive to switch?

@RedMageLanakyn @Fight_Teza_Fight @Ralizah thanks Sony ponies. Cheque's in the bank

Never thought I'd see an advert like this. Cool how Nintendo advert and at the end Xbox is given the lhs of the screen and Nintendo the rhs (think movie posters as to why a big deal). Cos the 2 companies must be talking one does wonder if more could come of this in the Nindy-Ubisoft vein. Doubtful, but never expected a dual console advert in a million years.

@gortsi Chill out dude why you attacking people in your own community for having a different opinion to you.

I'm a PS4/Switch owner, but I'm a console gamer first and foremost.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Not attacking anyone but corporate bootlickers. The future is open platforms, you're just a sad relic of the past

@gortsi & so is streaming games and the apparent 'death' of single player games.
I'll be a relic thank you very much.

@Equinox Why is it sad? Pretty cool to see really.

I liked the commercial. Too bad the comment section devolved into people more concerned about 'who is better' rather than 'how can i have fun'

@gortsi I don't think it's right to reach for quite such uncompromising insults. @Ralizah put forward some sensible soundings reasons for why it might make business sense for Sony not to join in the cross-play fun, which explicitly stating he doesn't necessarily support it. To continue the equine analogy, I don't think he has a horse in this race.

@ThanosReXXX has writen a solid reply. I've enjoyed reading both, even if I think they're coming slightly different angles (player-focused vs. business focused).

I don't think we have to resort to such base insults, just because someone is open to discussing the potential business sense of an ostensibly player-unfriendly move.

Personally, I'd be much more likely to download Rocket League and Fortnite if I knew could play them with my PS owning friends, so from a publisher and a player point of view, I think cross-play is a good thing.

@Fight_Teza_Fight that's just you imagining things. Single player games will always be around, regardless of cross-play. Stay a relic and keep defending your black box, after all it's important to be on the "winning" side. Bootlickers all around us and they don't even get a cut of the profits. Useful idiots indeed

@Maxz what you think is right is fine by your standards, not mine. Cross play was impossible when the internet was not around and made sense then. It doesn't make sense now unless you're a shareholder or employee of these companies. If these people are then fine but they should come and say it. Otherwise, they're just corporate cheerleaders cheering in favour of their favourite black box. Not an insult, just the reality

Banjo for smash confirmed.

Can't use Mario skin pack so it's pointless for me. I built a giant Peach castle and it is totally ruined without the skinpack

Edit: I was wrong, you can, it was just hidden because you can't do cross play with it on, so better together but not quite....

As someone who owns a PS4, Xbox one and nintendo switch , I'm all for cross play , time for Sony to open up the gates . Either way it's a good thing for gamers , think Sony is feeling a little bit left out .

@MasterJay
The correct response would be "ask your parents for permission"

@odin6786 What do you mean

@MasterJay
Instead of green and red saying "NO!" their response to blue should be "ask your parents for permission". Sony being the parent...

@odin6786 Oh! I get what your saying

@Ralizah Not true, a lot of people care about it including me and some friends and family one of which only has a PS4 and would like to play a few games like Rocket League cross play and won't be able to do that which is just going to push them to move platforms and purchase other consoles which will open up more experiences where they might just abandon Sony, regardless of what people are saying this will directly effect Sony's sales whether you argue for it or not.

@Brett_is_dead Not to mention this will indeed effect sales, Sony will lose sales because there are tons of people who are going to move to other platforms as more cross play games are released.

@Savino I noticed that and was going to post it myself...you beat me to it. Subliminal messaging? I like it

@Spudworthy Being able to play Super Mario Odyssey on the Xbox One would be incredible too. I wonder why they don't make that happen!

No shots were fired, ClickbaitLife. Sony just didn't appear in the trailer.
It could be a jab at Sony if it showed a kid playing Minecraft by himself in a dark room, save for the glow from his DualShock 4 that reflects off a single tear, which contains his sorrows that he can't play with his friends, as it rolls down the kid's cheek as he smiles in denial, as he tries to tell himself he is having as much fun by himself as he could with his friends.
But no, there's nunna that. Stop twisting an innocent trailer into something it isn't.

The levels of saltiness of some fans here have risen recently maybe because of that awful E3 from Nintendo and now they are even cheering for Microsoft and Nintendo friendship

@Fight_Teza_Fight The end goal of PUBLISHERS is to cut the console vendors I agree. However, as Nintendo found out with the Wii, dedicated gamers make up the sales of gaming, not the fly by night mass market. And dedicated gamers HATE streaming and would rather spend money on consoles (and PCs). As long as people are willing to buy $400 black boxes and $60-100 games, consoles are going nowhere.

MS is heavily into digital and services, yes, but they're also the only one of the 3 into letting you still play your games that you bought 15+ years ago without rebuying them. At least some of the bigger ones. Ultimately Sony copies everyone, Nintendo does Nintendo, and MS seems to like bridging PC benefits with consoles. People will tire of trying to stream Assassin's Creed and have it suck while Paying Ubi $10 for the privilege. I don't see that streaming dream being a reality. Service/Netflix/Subscriptions? Yes. Streaming? No. Sony already offers that today and nobody buys it....because it sucks. Ubi and EA are counting on the internet magically getting better in the next 7 years, as though they've never met Comcast, ATT, and Verizon. MS created GamePass for that very reason: Streaming sucks and gamers won't pay for it with current capabilities of the telcos. Google tried to take matters in their own hands and build their own network nationwide only to learn why those telcos do what they do.....it costs a FORTUNE and takes forever! Even Google mostly bailed. And by the time streaming is ok imagine the quantum computing a console can do?

@KayFiOS You're kind of right, but IMO, it's a joint commercial by MS and Nintendo, featuring Green and Red side by side, with both the Switch and XBox One logos under the texts "Survive Together" The messaging isn't subtle and it's doubtful that's accidental given the related twitter marketing and such around the topic from both firms.

Mario kart cross play in the future will be great.

I see this "controversy" mostly on NintendoLife where most people claim they do not care about the PS4 anyway.

If anything - playing Minecraft in silence with Fam is a no-go - Cross play or not. They just there with no way to communicate - That is one sad way to play Minecraft.

@Agramonte oh really? Well I guess I just imagined seeing it on the BBC's front page or all over Sony's social media.

@Octane what does first party exclusivity have to do with third party cross-play? What are you even arguing?

@gortsi I've read more articles about Kingdom Hearts 3, fallout and the new Steam Sale than this. Even if it makes it to click bait city Kotaku and Gamespot - it be at the end of the feed by days end.

People who have access to 36 million active users and every online game imaginable do not care about cross-play with the Switch. Nintendo needs to make a compelling online product like SONY did and call it a day.

@Agramonte sure buddy. If you live in a cave, that's very true

@Spudworthy Same issue really. Sony thinks it's a feature worth keeping exclusive, just like all three companies are keeping their own games exclusive to their systems. If one started publishing their games on other consoles, and the other two don't, would that be ''anti-consumer'' too? Xbox One games are already on PC, Nintendo and PlayStation games aren't, does that make them ''anti-consumer''? Because it surely would be ''incredible'' if people weren't bound by a single console, no?

All three companies think that exclusive games are worth keeping exclusive because they're a selling point. Sony, having the largest install base, thinks the same of cross-play, and I do think it's a big selling point. So I don't see how this is any different. Don't like it? Don't buy it, is all I can say.

I wish each of the Big Three would come together, and maybe eventually there will come a day when third-party exclusives are a thing of the past. I would love a world where games like Cuphead--a fantastic game that I would love to own on console but doesn't justify the full purchase of an Xbox One--can be purchased on my Switch. And while I've never played Banjo-Kazooie myself, I can't deny it would be a fantastic piece of history to have the duo on Smash. This is definitely a positive sign pointing toward the direction I want to see the video game industry shift to.

@Octane

Go ahead and defend them locking you out of your Epic Games account. Go ahead, spin me a tale buddy. You can't. It's anti-consumer and you need to stop apologizing for corporate Sony. It does you no favors.

@Ralizah actually this issue threatens to be a big one if Sony doesn't change tact soon.

It's not the cross play but the Microsoft and Nintendo tag team that Sony needs to worry about, if Microsoft decided to bring some of its heavy hitters to the Switch like it has done with PC then Sony will be in a world of hurt. Especially if those heavy hitters are able to cross play between the two platforms.

Also, Sony has less of a selling point with cross play than anyone else. Literally and other platform has more cross play than the PS4.

@gortsi Ok man... Just like tons of people here will not care that they can't play with PS4 owners and will still go buy the game. The same thing will happen on the other side with the PS4.

There is no point in drinking ANY of the cool-aids

@Octane Exactly, and they know people will not give up access to that base and games over this.

Just like Nintendo does not care that EPIC proved how easy it is to give us Voice Chat or SONY how easy it is to let us back up our games for free. We not going anywhere that has no Metroid or Zelda... or play Splatoon online - most will just put up with it (just like they put up with SONY on the PS4) - and they know it.

@Agramonte it isn't about whether you care or not. I personally care because now I can play games with my brother who lives in another state even though we have different platforms. That doesn't really matter, though. This is objectively anti-consumer. Anyone who defends this must be worried that if Sony does this, they won't be in the lead anymore, which is ridiculous. Sony fans who have Xbox/Switch friends would benefit from this.

The bigger problem that I have with this, though, is the fact that my Epic Games account was held hostage by Sony. I eventually got over it and made a new one, but I shouldn't have had to and lost money because of it.

@Razer I really think this is a marketing stunt and nothing else, meant to publicize the issue for the brief period of time it stays in the public consciousness.

I'd absolutely love for some Microsoft exclusives to come to Switch, though. Rare Replay and Ori and the Blind Forest would be BRILLIANT on the Switch.

Cross play faff is a minor issue to be honest. If more than 5m people own the game that is in question then that is more than enough to make sure everyone gets a good session and meet new people every time.

Dont need to have 100m people just because big number... It makes no sense.

But this is still bad news for Sony, we consumers wont be in the know but the fact that two of Sony's biggest competition just tag teamed on a TV ad together should be sending alarm bells through the heads of the people pulling strings.

Making an ad is a big undertaking for two companies that are normally rivals. It means cohesion and partnership. It means that someone in Nintendo and someone in Microsoft are talking to each other about projects that involves the other.

In business language, that is huge. When you consider that Microsoft has control of certain IP from companies such as Rare that would clean house on Nintendo, among other things that could be done here, this does not bode well for Sony.

@Ralizah it could be a stunt or could not be, but a company like Sony wont rest on a chance, if it does then its playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse and it wont be acting the part of the cat.

Eh, none of the arguments in favor of Sony hold any water here. If Sony ever caves and supports this will the people defending Sony now all of a sudden say it's a genius move? lol

Nice. A M$ and Ninty "working relationship" can only mean good things for gamers, especially those who'd like to see classic Rare games on Switch.

@Razer

People aren't complaining about the lack of cross-play because there aren't enough players on a platform, they're complaining because they want to be able to play with friends who have different platforms.

@the_shpydar yeah i mean could you imagine if they did actually team up with Nintendo focussed on the mobile/handheld gaming and Microsoft in the console game, they could make games for each other without competing against each other...

Nintendo has repeatedly stated that it hasn't been competing with either Microsoft or Sony for years now, this would further strengthen that argument.

Botw on the Xbox One X would destroy numbers.

@Not_Soos In the meantime you can always get a cheap Xbox One S and play Rare Replay including Banjo-Kazooie. Cuphead too. And a ton others you would love like Ori.

@Spudworthy You are right.

@Spudworthy whatever you are all complaining about means nothing to investors and stock holders, the ones calling the shots will tell you or your friends that if you want to play in our park you have to use our ball...

What they will take notice of is if the other parks teams up and let you play with the same ball... The teaming up part especially.

@Spudworthy in other words your outrage at not being able to play together means nothing to them because to them you are part of a number, doesn't matter to them which number wants to be matched with another.

They basically said as much in their statement... If they change tact it wont be because players raged. It would be because Nintendo and Microsoft teaming up would be a nightmare from hell for Sony.

@HobbitGamer The spot is great and considering that Nintendo is not very open-minded regarding their products and IPs (they are more a cult than a company) it means a lot. It's a step forwards for both Nintendo and Microsoft. You are not alone, most people like this.

@PanurgeJr kind of doubt that, there was one time we were talking and he didn't know how many games you get per month with XBox Live. Everyone's got three consoles and a gaming PC on the internet!

@Spudworthy None of us can take our Switch Rocket League account back to PS4 or PC... you also need to start over and loose all your stuff. Right?

My point is that Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft all do it... and they do it because they have something people want more than what they taking away. And most people put up with it

The first thing I saw on this video is that neither of them are talking to each other - that is more important to me when I play with Family and friends than Cross-Play.

Essentially if Sony changes tact now they have a chance at pouring cold water on a Microsoft Nintendo team up before it heats up.

If Sony plays ball then Microsoft and Nintendo won't have much reason to take their relationship further.

If Sony does not play ball then it gives both Nintendo and Microsoft a target on their competitor that they can expose and how much they expose it will be up to them.

The Ball is most certainly in Sony's court.

Why does the black chicks home look all fudged up but the white kids house looks all nice, white and pristine. The chick has like dark yellow nasty walls with what looks like a bullet on said wall,lol. I find it funny, others might find it offensive.

@Ralizah of course it's a marketing stunt but it's an interesting one. It positions xbox and Nintendo as equals in the console space and rather than the default of Xbox and Sony as equals with Nintendo the outsider. This benefits Nintendo in terms of image and credibility in the mainstream Western market. It may refocus some publishers to take Nintendo seriously in the west if xbox itself is doing so.

@Agramonte it's so funny to me voice chat is still new, weird, and unwelcome..... This looked normal to me. #oldskool

@Rika_Yoshitake i didn't catch that. That's beautiful! Hryb is really cool with the community.

@NEStalgia
Do you think Microsoft will Not Allowed their newest Minecraft touch PS4 again considering Sony's attitude to Block Cross Play ?

I love this. Hopefully more games follow suit. Right now you have 3 massive hits leading the way (Minecraft, Fortnite, and Rocket League) and I hope more developers see the value of this and include it in their games.

@Anti-Matter oh they will still have Minecraft on ps4 and 5, not only would that be silly to leave the biggest platform and it's money, but that would be really terrible for Minecraft players with ps4s that are now locked forever with their accounts on Sony. Ms won't pull that support.

@Equinox Why is it sad?

@BlueOcean How much does one retail for? Non-Nintendo consoles have just never had enough software that appeals to me personally to make spending $300-$500 on the hardware worth it. If I were to buy one, I would probably choose a PS4 over Xbox One, if I'm being honest. I pretty much just play family-friendly games, but I feel like Xbox has always severely lacked that (or at least quality ones) since the beginning. That being said, I looked up a trailer for Ori and I have to say, it looks pretty excellent! The art style gave me strong Rayman Legends vibes, but maybe even more beautiful. If you know of more quality, inoffensive games like that on Xbox, by all means please share!

This whole thing with Sony would be fine, in my opinion, except for one thing: they DO allow cross-play...just only with PC (IE: Final Fantasy XIV). Sony seems to have no problem with cross-play when it comes to PC...its only the other consoles it is preventing cross-play with. So, the whole "its for the protection of our users!" comments are bogus because they already DO allow cross-play in some situations. This by Sony is strictly a business move, to concentrate their player base on ONLY their system...but this goes completely against the message they always like to put out at E3 (like they did again this year): that Sony is for THE PLAYERS. Sony is definitely NOT for the players...they are for Sony...plain and simple. I'd respect the company more if they would outright just say that...instead of giving me hollow platitudes. And yes...I own a PS4 and a PS3...and a Switch. Love all the consoles I own...but doesn't mean I have to love the parent companies all as much.

@Razer please don't bring up investors and that kind of thing, because Sony's stock dropped after the Fortnite controversy first came up. It is actually affecting them on the business side of things.

Now, if Microsoft would release Cuphead on Switch in and Nintendo put Windwaker on Xbox.... 😊

@Agramonte so you've never heard of Discord? Because that's where I talk to my friends, no matter if I'm playing on PS4 or Switch. If you don't want to be bothered to use a third party app for chat, which a lot of gamers do use, that's fine. That doesn't mean cross play is irrelevant.

The funny thing is that I like my PS4, but why should I get a third party game like Rocket League on it if it doesn't have the same amount of cross play as other versions? Honestly it just makes the PS4 versions of Minecraft, Rocket League, and Fortnite look inferior to PC, Xbox, Switch and mobile.

@MasterJay

No, use the same scenario but have the XSwitch players see the dual shocker in the corner...

XS- Hey, come play with us

DS- I want to but daddy says I can only play with PC and Mobiles * sad face *

XS- Cheer up lil dude, maybe one day....

@Maxz Thanks for the compliment, appreciate it.
As for me approaching it only from the gamer's side: that was the only side that made sense, since the business does often dictate where we go, but in the end, it goes full 180, if a company or a service doesn't offer what the masses, or the majority, wants from it.

And I could have also approached it from a business side, and I would have come to the same conclusion. Cross play is a thing, and it''s here to stay. You could argue that the two other parties are the lesser ones, and as such they have an interest in advertising this, but it's not just console: there's also cross play on and with mobile and PC, so now it is Sony being the only one not playing along, except for a select few PC efforts, which are mostly negligible.

And even from a professional point of view, I couldn't give a good spin on this. I've been in sales & marketing now for almost 21 years, and I wouldn't be able to sell this to my customers in good conscience. There simply isn't any compelling USP (Unique Selling Point) to it.

Well, other than the in this context rather hollow/irrelevant selling point that Sony has the most numbers/players, but the thing is that this is not the point, because it's all about being able to play with people that do NOT own a PS4, OR Xbox One, OR Nintendo Switch and who are also NEVER going to buy any of these other consoles. (EDIT: let alone think about doing it, if companies obstruct their options in this way. Today, it's cross play, tomorrow it's another thing not allowed, for whatever odd reason)

It's a potential expansion of your market, because it makes you look good as a company. And as a business that should normally speaking be looking for all kinds of new ways to innovate, upgrade their services and generate profits, they really should cater to this.

Now, Sony has other good points, obviously, there's no denying that, but I absolutely believe that in this case, they are doing both themselves and their target audience a MASSIVE disservice here, so this may very well end up biting them in the backside BIG time, for the coming generation, if they stick with this strategy, which now already targets three games, and will probably turn into an even longer list in the months and years to come...

@ThanosReXXX Slay.

@Spudworthy

And believe me, I wouldn't be coming back to the same article over and over again if I didn't genuinely believe that cross play is the way of the future for online multiplayer. Sony is either going to have to play ball, or let this issue start affecting PS4 sales.

@Not_Soos For £199.99 / €229.99 / $229.99 you get an Xbox One S bundled with a game or with 3 months of Pass and Gold.

https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/xbox-one/consoles/xbox-one-s/minecraft-complete-adventure-500gb

https://www.xbox.com/en-us/xbox-one/consoles/xbox-one-s/starter-bundle-500gb

It's true that in the beginning of the generation PS4 got more games but now all multiplatform games come to Xbox One as well including Japanese games like Nier Automata, Dragon Ball, Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3, so basically on PS4 you get exclusive Naughty Dog games (Uncharted and The Last of Us), God of War... and on Xbox One you get exclusive Rare games including Sea of Thieves and Rare Replay, Forza Horizon 4 (an arcade racer that looks awesome), Gears (popular shooter series for those who like this kind of thing), Halo (it's a bit like Metroid Prime)...

On Xbox One you have also Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of Wisps, challenging Cuphead and charming Super Lucky's Tale as exclusive games... Other cartoonish available games include Spyro Reignited Trilogy. You get also access to 360 games, some of them have been updated like Sonic Generations which plays and looks great on Xbox One (even more on X) and cult Xbox games like Panzer Dragoon Orta.

I will post again when I remember more games that you may like.

In my opinion just for Rare Replay is worth getting but there is much more.

@Spudworthy I Use discord on PC and it is installed on PC. I'm not running wires to combine audio or creating feedback over my TV speaker. That is not normal.

I said that just because I do not have Chat on my Switch (that is important to me) does not mean I am willing to toss my Switch because I care more about playing FE, and Zelda and Mario and Splatoon. The same way people with a PS4 will deal with not having cross play. They not going to give up playing a new FallOut, OverWatch (and every other online game under the sun) with 36 million people over cross-play with the Switch

@BlueOcean

Alright, thanks a bunch! I still don't know if I'd want to sink that much money into another console, but that's an incredibly reasonable price point. Spyro is a game I'm still desperately hoping for a Switch release. The same can be said for Kingdom Hearts, but I know realistically if that happens at all, it probably won't be for years.

I didn't know about the improved Sonic Generations. I guess you could say I'm a casual Sonic fan, but I only played the 3DS version since, y'know, I'm a Nintendo gamer. Everyone says it (or at least the console version, I'm really not sure what people even think of the 3DS iteration) is one of, if not, the best 3D Sonic games. It of course missed the Wii, and I so hoped Forces would be my chance to experience that style of gameplay on a Nintendo console, but we all know how that turned out. (On another note, I should probably buy the other "best" 3D Sonic game, being Colors, which I've never played in any format.) Frankly, with the Switch, I'm not sure I can go back to having a console locked to my TV. I may still keep my eyes open on an Xbox One S, however. Thanks again!

@gortsi @Ralizah agreed. I dont understand the bullcrap response that “gamers dont care”. All gamers should be happy about this.

@NEStalgia HAHA, I hear you!

I know Minecraft because my little nephews - and not a sec goes by without them telling me how I am doing something wrong or why we building what we are building... it is the only reason I play it.

Sitting quite playing Minecraft is strange to me.

The thing is that cross play is going to become the norm as time goes on. Fortnite is the biggest online multiplayer game right now, absolutely eclipsing Overwatch playerbase-wise, and it has cross play. Not every player will "deal" with PS4 not having cross-play. Just look at Twitter, and how many PS4/Switch owners are upset that they can't use their Epic Games accounts and purchases on the Switch. If Sony doesn't play ball, I and many others will switch to Xbox next gen for our multiplatform/online box. I've always said Sony and Microsoft exclusives weren't enough for me to choose one over the other, because I like Halo just as much as I do Uncharted. I'm not going to feel like I have the inferior version of multiplatform games like I do on my PS4. The PS4 version of Minecraft doesn't have the Better Together update. No cross play, no infinite worlds, you can't download custom maps/texture packs/etc. made by the community on it, and it is missing a lot of other features every other platform including the Switch has. I can't play Fortnite at home and on the go on my PS4 like I can Xbox and Switch and keep my progress. Not unless I want to play with crappy touch screen controls on my phone.

These are just a couple games, but it's going to add up as time goes on, and eventually people are going to wonder why they even bother buying third party online games on the PS4.

@Ralizah

They all are though, so what's your point? Hell, even when everyone was crying Doom and Gloom for Nintendo because of the Wii U fiasco, it was still profiting pretty damn well. Besides, we're gamers. We're not the CEOs of these companies or anything really we should be worried about how much money they are accumulating. Why the hell do we or should we care since they're not passing any of that wealth onto us?

And while they may not care, Gamers actually do! Thus the reason for all the Uproar. Heck, it was even reported on BBC News man! So it's not even like it's a anti sony biased site or pro competitor leaning source there bruh. If anything it's only sony only gamers that don't care.

Between Microsofts total 180 from the release of the Xbox1 and this kind of open collaberation with nintendo, I may actually buy an Xbox1X(wow that looks like some edgiboi's username) if the new Halo game actually gets back to being what actually made Halo great under Bungie.

@Ralizah Until fairly recently I believe Sony, as a whole, was actually losing money hand over fist. Glad to see them doing okay now, though. Their gaming division usually does okay.

@NEStalgia Personally, I think municipal internet is going to be the way to go. Google Fiber isn't coming any time soon, and the big telecom companies are already charging more with net neutrality down, and they're further consolidating. AT&T merged with Time Warner, Comcast offering $65 billion with a b for 21st Century Fox... Government is supposed to break up companies when they get this big, won't happen regardless of who is in power... Citizens need to fight to control their own internet service. Telecoms try to make that illegal, but they can be fought if citizens want 1 gbps internet badly enough.

As for Microsoft, they made a LOT of horrible decisions early on with the Xbone. But at least they're learning... for now. Always have to vigilant of them, they want your data.

@Ralizah They will care when Micrsoft takes Sony's crown and dominates sales next gen. The only reason PS4 is now in the lead is because of exclusives, but now that Microsoft is buying out all sorts of major devs, Sony wont be getting as many of those next gen. Sony is basically burning its bridges. If they don't deliver the top console net gen, they wont even have the option to cross-play, cause god knows Nintendo and Microsoft with stick it to them.

Oh dear, look at all the Sony fanboys trying to make out like what they've done isn't completely anti-consumer and frankly, should be considered illegal. Someone I've spoken to about this raised a very valid point - he created his Epic account on PC and most of the purchases he has made in Fortnite have been on that platform. Eventually he linked his PSN to that Epic account and because of that one move, he is now restricted from playing the game on Switch or Xbox, despite having made NO purchases from the PS store. How Sony can get away with this or worse yet, their fans defend them, is completely insane. Personally I love this TV spot... hope to see a few versions of it to cover some of the other cross platform games

lol

You guys are funny.

I like how people still don’t think this is a shot at Sony it’s pretty obvious especially at the end like really? you have to be pretty dense not to see it especially after reggie’s wording about the fortnite issue

I started to resent Sony when I was forced to buy MH World on PS4 despite wanting and planning to buy for X1X. It's that sort of consumer resentment that comes back to bite companies down the line. Twisting my arm to buy games on their platform is not how you breed consumer goodwill. I've already sold off all my multi platform PS4 games and repurchased for X1, and that decision is paying dividends today.

And to anyone who thinks this doesn't matter to the average gamer, think again. The majority of gamers today are online gamers > the majority of gamers today play with others online, which means cross play is a very relevant issue for the majority of gamers.

Even if it's not enough to convince a person to not buy a PS5 next gen, it very well could (and likely will) be enough to convince them to simply not buy multiplatform titles on PlayStation. Just today I was having a conversation with a co-worker and his new apprentice, and both of them were saying they had no plans to buy a PlayStation in light of the restrictions. And these aren't fansite gamers here- these are more casual "play the popular game of the day once in a while" type gamers.

Sony can do whatever they want. All I know is that I'm never going to buy any game for PS again aside from 1st party exclusives. Because I don't want my accounts locked down and I don't want to be limited with regard to whom I play with. And that's a decision that directly results from these policies. The reason I switched my library over in the first place was because they wouldn't allow external hard drive's and I needed more space. They have since solved that issue and thus I had no reason not to go back to PS next gen. But now... I do.

I'm all for this marriage of MS and Nintendo online play policy. It guarantees full lobbies and lively communities, it ensures you can play with friends despite not owning the exact same console as you, and it will help promote games on both platforms simulaneously. I think it's fantastic. MS has done a complete 180 since the Don Mattrick scandal, and gamers everywhere are reaping the benefits... well, except PS only gamers, that is. Which is a shame, because honestly they're paying a price here as much as anyone. Lots of PS gamers who couldn't play with their Xbox owning friends when MH came out. Your squad is your gaming family.

Unfortunately, I see Sony doubling down rather than relenting. And MS/Nintendo are gonna keep hammering this over and over again as a result. Every time another game releases with cross play that says "playable across all systems: PS excluded" it's going to remind people of the restrictional baggage that comes with buying on PS. One day though, we'll see all 3 platforms united under cross play. And it will be a glorious day.

Hahaha... Classic!

@JaxonH Absolutely brilliant post. Agree wholeheartedly with everything you've said here.

why do they never show the pro controller?!

Console wars make me sad and especially gamers that buy into it and take sides - that’s what they all want - I own all three current main consoles - I want them all to do the best for gamers - Sony have been dreadful this gen - it’s what a massive lead in sales does for you - no BC, no cross play etc - they have great exclusives and had a superb launch. Xbox shot themselves in the foot and had lost the race before it began but then raised their game ten fold.

Nintendo turn up to the race late but it’s sales figures impressive and they are marching to their own beat as always and their exclusives still rule.

Loyalty to one brand is just foolish really. Even if you only own one.

@JaxonH I bought PS4 day one - few years later got an Xbox and PS4 is for exclusives and ps+ games only.

Switch I’ll buy anything/everything

Xbox is anything not on switch and obviously exclusives.

I have two 5tb drives attached to my Xbox and 400+ games installed. Sony’s forced me off their platform as Xbox at the time allowed far more freedom - but I’ll keep Sony for exclusives- I did what was best for me not for them.

I dunno about shots as such, but it's pretty obvious who's been left out of the equation.

You are very welcome, good guy.

Let's hope that more games come to Switch, Spyro and Kingdom Hearts included.

@Spudworthy sorry for bringing that up but as you seem to know, this is a pritty big thing for Sony and could well decide their fate going forward. Personally i hate Sony and have only ever owned a sony product outside of the ps2 which was given and not bought, so i have no problem watching their stock fall...

There's two types of companies in the world, those who support healthy competition to stimulate the market for all.

And those who aggressively seek the destruction of their competitors, which does nothing but monopolizes their own hold on the market. Effectively suffocating it.

Sony and its business practices put it firmly in the second category while Nintendo sits in the first and Microsoft sits somewhere in between (think technology integration that Microsoft allows on its operating systems from competitors).

Now a company like Sony, who are bleeding money from every division bar gaming and a small financial consultancy firm based in Asia, deserves all the bad it gets, at least until it is pushed to the fringes of the market.

If Sony had it their way then both Nintendo and Microsoft would be gone and we would all be gaming on Sony hardware only.

Now i wouldn't wish their death but i certainly do not wish them well and watching their 4 year hold on the market begin to slip gives me nothing but delight.

An example of what i mean is Sega and the situation with the Ps2 - now Sega really sowed the seeds of its own destruction but Sony certainly helped by announcing their ps2 nearly 2 years before it was due to drop.

Effectively pushing the Dreamcast sales off a cliff. Now it was just the nail in the coffin, a coffin Sega had made for themselves, but to think Sony would be the one to hammer the nail in just fills me with hate for them.

Then there is their total refusal to allow developer friendly coding for the ps3, which was Sony's way of forcing developers to make games for the ps3 instead of the other two... This backfired spectacularly and they totally lost their hold on the market. This is typically a Sony thing to do - as soon as they have a controlling stake on the market, they attempt to push others out.

Then they attempted to do the same thing to Nintendo that to Sega by trickle feeding info on a ps5 that is yeeears away because of the Switch (the market didn't fall for it again).

Now total refusal to engage in cross play... (Something that would help stimulate competition and build a healthy market).

Sony are so anti consumer its so unreal to me how gamers can even support them.

@electrolite77 even them too, last gen they were always behind the 360 and only managed to catch up towards the end of the generation, while obviously they didn't even come close to the Wii's sales. Let's not even get into the handheld space and their spectacular failures there. But cheerleaders will cheerlead

@Razer Everything you said of Sony is true, however "This is typically a Sony thing to do - as soon as they have a controlling stake on the market, they attempt to push others out."

All 3 have done that. Make no mistake, I generally dislike WHICHEVER company is in the lead, as they all end up doing that. Microsoft did that during the mid-X360 era when Sony faltered. Sony did it now and late in the PS2 era into PS3. Nintendo did it in the early 90's and to a lesser degree in he Wii era. They're all as bad when they're in the lead. Sony's just done it more because they've been in the lead more often. When MS goes into that phase I'll probably head back to PS.

@JaxonH I thought MHW released same day on PS4/X1? What made you have to buy on PS4?

I agree about moving to X1 though. I was really fond of PS4 comparatively but in the past year or so XBox has really pivoted in a good way, and after playing with my 1X a lot, basic things I take for granted (copying a game to more than one drive, copying between systems locally, seeing file sizes for downloads) seem so archaic and unfriendly on PS. And of course, backward compatibility, especially for a digital library is amazing (though I imagine PS5 will do that, Sony keeps trying to 1-up MS's improvements which is good for everyone. If it doesn't, PS will be my "third system" next time. It's already an exclusives box for me as well (Plus Nier....hey, it was exclusive when I bought it!)

It's not even a crossplay thing. I play very few competitive online games, coop games I generally play locally (with two machines online), and "shared world" games doesn't really matter if you have crossplay or not. My online heavy games are mostly Switch exclusives anyway. But it's the whole entombing feel of Sony's ecosystem that it's a one-off console and digital purchases are truly locked, while X1 feels like you'll be good for years with it like Steam (maybe it won't, but it feels like it will be.) And since MS is more about cloud services than "selling platforms" now, they have every reason to do that. Plus MS payment system isn't perennially broken....Sony doesn't even LET me buy games half the time!

I like Playstation. I like Sony Studios games a lot. But where everyone else buys Nintendo to play Nintendo games, I think for now, I buy Sony to play Sony games, buy Nintendo to play every game I want to be able to play handheld, and buy everything else for XBox.

Until XBox is in the lead and gets arrogant and Sony is the better consumer value. Then we flip flop again

@PlywoodStick Municipal internet is a pipedream of the same magnitude that "everyone will be streaming all games in 10 years." In dense urban metros it's a possibility, but then it will be delivered mostly wirelessly, and will suffer horrible congestion and latency and never have the needed capacity (within the context of our lifetimes anyway.) Not suitable for gaming.

Google learned the hard way how difficult rolling out fiber everywhere is. If even Google can't do it, you know it's expensive! That leaves it back in the hands of the "experts", the telcos and cable companies.

Technically the very idea of a frequently changing/upgrading data delivery model delivered everywhere as a utility was asinine from the start. The internet started on phone lines, which already existed everywhere and took almost a CENTURY to roll out, to fall less individual structures, and the bare copper wires are good forever. Dialup was a fine model. Once it became broadband with a new utility.....it became unsustainable from the start. Many places still don't have sewers or gas, a 150+ year old utility. Many places don't have utility water, they use well water as a local hub and spokes rather than a grid. Electricity is essentially everywhere, but, again, once the wires are laid they're good forever until they break which made progress continuous, if slow, to roll out over the better part of half a century, without complex expanding backends: one power plant, and cables to feed it in one direction.

Broadband's whole nature is incompatible with utility deployment, and certainly not cost effectiveness. Two way communication with complex switching offices in a grid layout is bad enough. And where other utilities roll forward over decades only falling back as things break, often over decades themselves (plenty of gas/water/electric lines here are over a century old and still work fine as they gradually replace them.) Not so with broadband. Anything they rolled out in the 90's was obsolete by the 00's. Whatever they rolled out in the 00's was obsolte in the 10's. What they're rolling out now, will surely be obsolete in 10 years. So instead of forever rolling it forward, they roll it out to dense areas, and as soon as they get into the periphery, fall back to the dense areas, rip everything up, and upgrade it.....it's groundhog day. They just keep doing the same thing over and over and that will never change until "the internet" decides on a standard. Then give it another 50 years or so to actually be complete. These idiot tech firms think this stuff happens overnight because tech happens overnight. They're not looking at how the phone grid, electric grid were built inittially and that gas and water are generally districted, and not interconnected at all. Most of them seem not to care as long as the urban cores are covered "well that's enough customers!" . You can't build "the internet" of the future (available in select locations.) That recreates 1890's versions of rural versus city of two wholly different social systems and expectations. Or worse, back to an equivalent of city-states.

The utilities may be greedy, but they're also much more grounded by reality than the pie in the sky tech companies. As Google learned. Google did drive costs down in select areas, which is good. But I don't see the internet Yves Guillemot sees happening in the US during my lifetime, at all. In locations, sure. Not as standard. It would have to be federalized, and that raises a whole other host of problems. But "municipal internet" I don't see existing outside major metros. And i don't see it being useful for gaming even if it did.

I can't wait for the actual servers to come out then we can actually play cuz I don't have any friends that actually really play Minecraft too much so I'm usually by myself

Funny thing about this is that getting a PS4 and switch is much more better than Xbox and Switch lmao

@NEStalgia
It wasn't anything to do with release date, it was the cross play, or lack thereof I should say. I had to buy on a platform I didn't want it on in order to play with my brother.

We know Capcom has always done cross play from Wii U to 3DS and Switch to 3DS for MH. So I'm convinced it would have been no different had their policy allowed for it.

@JaxonH ohh, gotcha. Yeah, that sucks.

Please Sony, join the party. We all want some group S-N-M action.

@gustave154

I used to believe that, but I'm leaning more towards Xbox these days. Sony is going the whole cinematic movie game route for first party, which I like, but there's no diversity in their line up nowadays, which I don't like. Microsoft meanwhile has Halo, my favorite competitive FPS, Forza, which is the best car game after Mario Kart, and they're focusing more on first party so we're going to see a lot of new I.P in the coming years. Sony is turning all of their games into The Last of Us.

Xbox Live is better than PSN, always has been. The X is the best place to play multiplatform games as far as consoles go hardware-wise, and Gamepass is actually a good value. That, along with backwards compatibility and cross play, Xbox is looking a lot hotter right now. I really only get a PlayStation or Xbox to play with friends who don't care about Nintendo each gen anyway, and now with cross play I can play games with them on Xbox AND my Switch.

@Tasuki because Playstation fanboys never talk smack online? I think we've reached peak stupid on this thread, lock it up

@XenoShaun wait, did they actually tweet Nintendo? Send over a link.

@N00BiSH https://mobile.twitter.com/xboxuk/status/1006605714620665858?lang=en

@PanurgeJr LOL god i wreck you so much.

@Tasuki XBox and Switch players are happily playing online together with no smack talk. Why would it be different with PS players?, unless it's the attitude of PS fanboys that sets it all off?

@Not_Soos
If you're still interested, here are some family-friendly exclusive games you can play on Xbox One.

Retail:
Forza Horizon 3 (Acquired taste, really)
Halo Wars 2 (It's similar to Pikmin, if you like that game)
Sunset Overdrive (Not family friendly, but cartoony and colourful)
Rare Replay (A collection of (mostly) general audience games released 2008 and earlier.)
Super Lucky's Tale (A Super Mario Galaxy-esque platformer)

Digital:
Cuphead (A difficult run 'n gun game)
Ori And The Blind Forest (A masterpiece of a Metroidvania)

Coming Soon:
Ori And The Will of Wisps (It will probably be a masterpiece)
Battletoads (I'm not exactly sure if this will be family friendly, but it'll certainly be cartoony.)

Backwards compatible games:
Blinx: The Time Sweeper (A 3D platformer)
Fable II (a western RPG)
Peggle 2 (a colourful 2D puzzle game)

Hexic HD, Ilomilo, The Maw, 'Splosion Man, Raskulls, Mr. Driller Online, Kingdom For Keflings

There are more exclusive family-friendly games, but these are all I can think of at the moment.