The ability to play with friends is one of the most important aspects of gaming. When consoles gained access to the internet, online gaming helped connect people from around the world, creating more opportunities to play together. But as time went on and competition increased, joining a game with a friends became progressively dependent on whether or not they owned the same console.

Those days may soon be at an end, now that cross-platform play is becoming more popular. The CEO of Rockstar Games, Strauss Zelnick, agrees, and made it the topic of a presentation at the recent Goldman Sachs Cummunacopia Conference.

Xbox Play Anywhere Statement Retracted

"Eventually I think we will be in a cross-platform world, for a lot of titles," Zelnick said. "Certainly, between console and PC." He added that Microsoft is "basically already there," possibly a reference to the Xbox Play Anywhere system, where buying a game on either Xbox or PC will allow play on the other system, allowing progress and achievements to be carried over. The rise of streaming will expedite the move to cross-platform play, he claims.

The closed system walls are coming down, and they have to. Streaming is going to accelerate those walls coming down. We're all here for the consumers. If you're going to create rules that don't benefit the consumers but somehow you think benefit your enterprise, you're mistaken. Consumers will go elsewhere. You have to pay attention to what the consumer wants.

For this to happen, streaming will need to be more prevalent in gaming, which Zelnick believes will happen in the next 1-3 years. Companies like Microsoft and EA are already currently working on game-streaming services, while Sony is slightly ahead with PlayStation Now. However, Sony is not as invested in cross-platform play as its competition. This has garnered the company some criticism, especially after its decision to not support cross-play with Fornite on PlayStation 4, while consoles like the Switch and Xbox One do.

With streaming gaining momentum, we'll have to see how gaming evolves in the next couple of years, and if cross-platform play can eventually become the standard for non-exclusive titles. If it does, the opportunity for more people to play together is an overall positive for the video game industry.

Source: Gamespot