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posted by martyb on Thursday August 16 2018, @12:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the who-blinks-first? dept.

Bethesda Declares War on Sony Over Cross-Play Limitations

Cross-play has become a major issue over the past few months as prominent games like Fortnite have been sandboxed on the PlayStation 4. As more games proliferate across the Switch, Xbox One, and PC, Sony continues to be the last holdout, simply because there's no pressing reason why the company should do things any differently. But pressure from companies like Bethesda could force it to rethink that stance. In a recent interview with , Pete Hines, Bethesda's senior VP of global marketing, discussed the upcoming console version of the Elder Scrolls Legends, a free-to-play card game set within the Elder Scrolls universe. Here's what Hines had to say:

[The Elder Scrolls Legends] is a strategy card game that encompasses both single and multiplayer...It is both cross-platform play and cross-platform progress. It is our intention in order for the game to come out, it has to be those things on any system. We cannot have a game that works one way across everywhere else except for on this one thing. The way the game works right now on Apple, Google, Steam, and Bethesda.net, it doesn't matter where you buy your stuff, if you play it on another platform that stuff is there. It doesn't matter what platform you play on, you play against everyone else who is playing at that moment. There's no 'Oh, it's easier to control, or it has a better framerate on this system.' It's a strategy card game. It doesn't matter.

When asked if Bethesda actually intended to fight Sony on this issue, Hines replied: "We continue to talk to all of our platform partners," Hines added. "But those [terms] are essentially non-negotiable. We can't be talking about one version of Legends, where you take your progress with you, and another version where you stay within that ecosystem or its walled off from everything else. That is counter to what the game has been about."

Separately, Why Bethesda changed its review policy:

In 2016, with the release of DOOM, Bethesda announced a new policy to only send out review code to media on the day of release. The policy was met with a lot of pushback from both players and critics who saw it as a way of stifling pre-release criticism, even though, at the time, Bethesda was releasing some of the strongest games it had ever put out.

In the past year or so, code has been quietly coming in earlier for some of Bethesda's titles, so we asked the company's SVP of global marketing, Pete Hines, if the company's policy has officially changed. "We put out Evil Within 2 and sent it out to press well in advance, and we did the same thing for Wolfenstein 2. Then there were other games that we sent out at launch." Hines says. "I think we're going to continue to evaluate what makes the most sense.

[...] "We did it the first time because there was the whole thing about transparency and companies needing to be transparent," Hines explains of the initial decision. "We were like, 'Well, you want us to be transparent, this is what we're doing'. "Then it ended up being the focal point and, honestly, we were tired of reading reviews where the first paragraph spent more time talking about our review policy than the game. So we decided we're not going to keep drawing attention to it – we'll send out copies and maybe people will start talking about the game instead of talking about policies. So we did."

See also: Sony's stalling tactics on cross-play worked

Previously: Sony Faces Growing 'Fortnite' Backlash At E3


Original Submission

Related Stories

Sony Faces Growing 'Fortnite' Backlash At E3 23 comments

Sony chiefs are under pressure to respond to complaints about "cross-play" restrictions imposed on Fortnite. Gamers have discovered that if they had first played the title on a PlayStation console, they are unable to use the same Fortnite account with the newly released Nintendo Switch edition. This prevents them from being able to make use of outfits and other in-game purchases and rewards they had accrued.

There is no such limitation when moving between the Xbox One and Switch. Gamers were already unable to share a Fortnite account between Microsoft and Sony's platforms. But the appeal of the Switch is that its portable nature allows owners to play when away from home, and so many have bought it as a second games machine.

Sony has yet to confirm it is responsible for the constraint, but it issued the following statement to the BBC.

"We're always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience," it said.

"With... more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we've built a huge community of gamers who can play together on Fortnite and all online titles.

"We also offer Fortnite cross-play support with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, expanding the opportunity for Fortnite fans on PS4 to play with even more gamers on other platforms."

[...] Sony has faced criticism for blocking cross-play in other titles in the past, including Minecraft and Rocket League. But the sheer scale of Fortnite's success means the backlash has the potential to be more damaging this time round.

Epic said this week that the title has amassed 125 million players worldwide.


Original Submission

Sony Says You Can't Have Cross-Play Because PlayStation is the Best 21 comments

CNET:

Sony doesn't want you to play with your Xbox or Switch friends, I argued last June. We've known since 2016 that Sony is the only company standing in the way of buddies being able to team up across PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, since there's no technological limitation.

And though Sony has since been shown up by Microsoft and Nintendo, and though Sony enraged the Fortnite community, and though Fallout developer Bethesda has badmouthed Sony about cross-play and threatened to hold another game hostage, and even though PlayStation America CEO Shawn Layden suggested Sony might have actually gotten the message...

...today, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida reportedly told the press that his company generally doesn't believe in the idea of opening up the PlayStation to cross-platform multiplayer.

"On cross-platform, our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play. Fortnite, I believe, partnered with PlayStation 4 is the best experience for users, that's our belief," he said, according to The Independent.

Previously: Sony Faces Growing 'Fortnite' Backlash At E3
Bethesda Clashes With Sony on PS4 Cross-Play, Changes Review Policy


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 16 2018, @12:32AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 16 2018, @12:32AM (#721973) Journal

    Personally, I've never seen any pressing reason to own several different boxes, just to play games. An Xbox, a Nintendo box, a Sony box, a Gameboy, on and on it goes. The last time I personally owned a box like that, was when Atari was popular. My boys have bought a few boxes over the years, but for the most part, I couldn't be bothered with them. One of the Nintendos captured my interest for a short period. That interest ended when I was reminded that it cost fifty bucks or more to purchase another game for the damned thing.

    If I can't play it on my desktop/workstation/server, then it doesn't appeal to me.

    All games should be cross-platform. That's the difference between a "customer" and a "consumer". Consumer's buy what they are told they should be buying. Customers buy whatever they want, and don't fork over money just to make executives happy. The customer's response to advertising and marketing is vastly different from that of a consumer.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Thursday August 16 2018, @12:58AM (8 children)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 16 2018, @12:58AM (#721983) Journal

    Sony has been on my "do not do business with" list for over a decade now, and yesterday Bethesda joined it on the list. I hope they can both lose.

    --
    Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:01AM (5 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:01AM (#721985) Journal

      What happened yesterday?

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 5, Funny) by archfeld on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:07AM (1 child)

        by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:07AM (#721990) Journal

        Bethesda stole his job, killed his dog, and screwed his mother. The age old story... :)

        --
        For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
        • (Score: 4, Informative) by anubi on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:14AM

          by anubi (2828) on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:14AM (#722011) Journal

          While I lost complete respect for Sony over that Celine Dion disk ( the rootkit ), who I really lost respect for was our own government's handling of the affair.

          My response would have been: "You violated everyone's trust here with that rootkit, and its obvious that you guys are not good at handling the privilege of handling confidentiality very responsibly. So, from now on, if you guys expect ANY sort of CopyRight Enforcement from the US Government, you WILL openly document any form of DRM enforcement you are using, as if you want to do things under the table, in secret, and expect us not to hold you responsible for screwups, we won't get involved in it either."

          Then watch the frowns extend across the face of the Lobbyist, and watch the hand, so eagerly extended for a shake confirming agreement to their wishlist, withdraw.

          But did any Congressmen stand up for US?

          "Free song" my ass. If that is the price of the "punishment", then it should have been bilateral... if they wanna fine any citizen, then the fine's the same... you will have to sing them a song.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:08AM (2 children)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:08AM (#722079) Journal
        --
        Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:50AM

      by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:50AM (#722001)

      Sony has been on my "do not do business with" list for over a decade now

      Me too.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by cubancigar11 on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:24AM

      by cubancigar11 (330) on Thursday August 16 2018, @04:24AM (#722051) Homepage Journal

      To bring some context, Xbox 360 had the same policy when they were the top-dog. Then Sony was complaining about it and did allow cross-play. This time Sony's console is best selling hence they are doing what MS did and MS is allowing cross-play.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Booga1 on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:44AM (3 children)

    by Booga1 (6333) on Thursday August 16 2018, @01:44AM (#721999)

    Cross-platform play is clearly essential to Bethesda. Nice to see they're sticking to it, at least for the game in question.

    For me, Borderlands 2 was one cross-platform game that really hit home. Good story, good game play, flexibility for different play styles, and co-op made it all better. Sure, it had hiccups with version mis-matches from time to time which meant days(or weeks) where I couldn't play with my friends who had the Mac version. Still, the fact that there was even a Mac version was an improvement.

    To get off Windows because of the games, cross-platform support is the way out.

    • (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:32AM (2 children)

      by stretch611 (6199) on Thursday August 16 2018, @02:32AM (#722021)

      I did not know that Borderlands 2 was published through Bethesda (or a subsidiary)... That one is actually available on linux... And Bethesda (as well as Ubisoft) appear openly hostile to Linux.

      --
      Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by jbernardo on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:14AM (2 children)

    by jbernardo (300) on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:14AM (#722081)

    Am I the only one who absolutely hates the "free to play"/"effing expensive to do anything in the game" model? Id rather pay 50€-70€ for a new game, or rather 10€ for an old one, instead of paying 100's for in game crap that ends up being completely indispensable to be able to do anything.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:44AM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:44AM (#722086) Journal

      Depends. Some of the free to play games explicitly do not do "pay to win", and apparently make their money through selling cosmetic skins, emotes, etc. that don't affect gameplay. For example, Fortnite is making hundreds of millions (billions?) for Epic Games despite being free-to-play:

      While both games have been successful for Epic Games, Fortnite Battle Royale became a resounding success, drawing in more than 125 million players in less than a year, and earning hundreds of millions of dollars per month, and since has been a cultural phenomenon.

      [...] Both game modes are set to be free-to-play titles, though presently, "Save the World" is in early access and requires purchase to play. Both games are monetized through the use of V-Bucks, in-game currency that can also be earned only through "Save the World". V-Bucks in "Save the World" can be used to buy pinatas shaped like llamas to gain a random selection of items. In "Battle Royale", V-Bucks can be used to buy cosmetic items like character models or the like, or can also be used to purchase the game's Battle Pass, a tiered progression of customization rewards for gaining experience and completing certain objectives during the course of a "Battle Royale" season.

      Meanwhile, the games that do allow players to gain an advantage by paying money often allow you to grind and progress as far as other players can without paying (extra) money. So maybe poor kids play the dumb game all day, while grown ass adults skip the grinding phase by throwing in some money.

      Pay-to-win and DLC (which is usually easily distinguished from the more substantive and less frequent "expansions" [wikipedia.org] of yore) are not great trends and can definitely be annoying. But in some cases, it can end up like how you wanted it with season passes or game of the year/ultimate editions providing all of the content at one initially high price, which could end up declining years later.

      You mention 100s of €s. Well, it could be much worse [soylentnews.org]. It all comes down to what people are willing to blow on what is often virtual crap.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday August 16 2018, @03:50PM

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday August 16 2018, @03:50PM (#722263) Journal

      You are not the only one. Also, "this is why we can't have nice things" on cell phones / tablets. It essentially is as addictive as gambling, but without the potential for a monetary reward. The model can't die fast enough in my book, but the more I see it stay the less hope I have for it ever going away. It especially needs to stay out of purchased games. While Overwatch is one of the least offensive in that regard, they still "let you" buy tons of crates for cosmetic rewards. I can sort of get a free game that lets you buy cosmetics out right, but the temptation to do more than that is stupendously large. What's to stop XYZ Free game that I've been playing for a year to start introducing "only small boosts" for paying customers. It's a slippery slope.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:37AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:37AM (#722085)

    Guns of Icarus Alliance is available on Linux/Mac/PS4/Windows and has cross-play, so Sony isn't totally against it.

    • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Thursday August 16 2018, @11:37PM

      by Mykl (1112) on Thursday August 16 2018, @11:37PM (#722594)

      Sony's less worried about PC/Mac and more worried about other consoles. You'll note that your example is not available on XBox or Switch.

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