Xbox Vice President Says Cross-Play Isn't Just A Trend

The discussion of creating a gaming environment where cross-play between different consoles and games has certainly been a popular topic lately, and according to a high-up member of the Xbox team, the discussion isn't going to be going away anytime soon.

When cross-play potential for games like Minecraft and Rocket League was first talked about, it seemed like several of the big-name gaming companies were totally on board with it. Minecraft's developers were all for uniting their massive playerbase, Psyonix wanted players across consoles to rocket a massive ball into a net with each other, and both Microsoft and Nintendo had little problem with making the transition. Sony continues to hold out on the cross-play plans by saying that PlayStation won't play a part in it, at least not right now.

But as criticisms towards Sony's controversial decision continue, Xbox's vice president Mike Ybarra said that the company has data to back up the fact that cross-play multiplayer is a big desire for their gamers.

Our data shows people want larger multiplayer pools of people to play with and the choice to play together. This isn't going away. https://t.co/QRLhLrSoth

— Mike Ybarra (@XboxQwik) August 4, 2017

The data that Ybarra speaks of in his recent tweet wasn't revealed at the time, statistics that would definitely be interesting to take a look at, but judging by the response from gamers across different consoles, one would think that the statement holds some weight. Console wars will still rage no matter what, but Xbox seems to be winning favor from most gamers on this front since they're actively pushing for cross-play gaming between Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo.

Sony's reasoning behind their opposition to the cross-play fun didn't do much to help their case either. When Minecraft's cross-play was the point of discussion, Sony responded by saying that they had a duty to protect their community, particularly the younger gamers that populate the game. With Microsoft and especially Nintendo boasting some strong protections for younger gamers in the past, the idea that Sony's players might be at risk when they visit another neighborhood was laughable, almost offensive to the other companies.

Minecraft and other games have stated that they're still discussing cross-play possibilities with Sony, so with persistent pressure, something may eventually change.