XBox and PS4 gamers could cross-play across networks

In a letter from Chris Charla, Director of ID@Xbox at Microsoft, there are plans to introduce cross-network play for Xbox with other types of consoles. He wrote:

“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.”

Other networks could be the beginning of cross-playing with Sony’s PlayStation platform. In a statement to GameSpot on whether they would work with Microsoft, Sony did not seem to take up the invitation directly but made a generic statement about always being open to cross-network gaming stating that:

“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.

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

They did not exactly say that they were taking up Microsoft’s offer, we’ll have to wait for their decision.