Cross Platform PC/Xbox?PS4

Obviously people talk about trading being a problem on Xbox, for a variety of reasons. Is cross platform something you are considering or is that just not possible any time soon?

Aside from the price difference on most items, some things simply don't exist or there are very few choices. A couple examples are I'm looking for a couple of elder mods on a helm, which simply doesn't exist, but even to get a base to try and craft there was exactly one base and it was 5ex and it was ilvl 74 lol. Another example, I've been eyeing a Grelwood Shank which runs in the 1 ex range on PC and their are currently 179 on PC. On Xbox there are anywhere from 1-3 available, at the times I've been playing, and they are 3-5ex for low rolls. And this is a recurring theme with me in the 3 leagues I've played so far. Build up a character all to get to a point where I have to grind currency at 3-5 times the rate of a PC player and either the item I want doesn't exist or I have to settle for sub par rolls or I have to pray to the crafting RnGesus, because the pool of players is low compared to PC.

Again not sure if this is possible or even what other problems it may create, but it seems like cross platform would be a good fix for this issue.

While I agree with you, the devs do not: It has been mentioned that all platforms are kept separate. I understand this decision for PC, but Xbox One and PS4 would be a perfect match, since they most likely will be using the same trading post structure. It would be a win-win for both console platforms.

But unfortunately, no.

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groetzi escreveu:

While I agree with you, the devs do not: It has been mentioned that all platforms are kept separate. I understand this decision for PC, but Xbox One and PS4 would be a perfect match, since they most likely will be using the same trading post structure. It would be a win-win for both console platforms.

But unfortunately, no.

A pretty good summary of my thoughts too.

Edit: perhaps with the caveat that the linking of the console markets happen sometime after PS4 launch in order for the PS4 base to find their trade bearings first.

Interview with Chris - https://www.altchar.com/games-news/interview/584519/chris-wilson-path-of-exile-interview

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Q: Are there any plans to enable cross-platform play for Path of Exile?

A: It’s something we’d like to achieve, but of course there are many factors in play. We haven’t spoken to the platform-holders about it recently, and their stances might have changed since we last did, so it’s something we’ll be investigating once we’ve got the PlayStation platform launched and running.

There’s some advantage to PlayStation having its own community before enabling cross-play. It means that PlayStation users can learn the game together, as opposed to being completely new compared to the other console community which has had the game for a while and knows exactly how everything works.

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Corrison escreveu:

Interview with Chris - https://www.altchar.com/games-news/interview/584519/chris-wilson-path-of-exile-interview

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Q: Are there any plans to enable cross-platform play for Path of Exile?

A: It’s something we’d like to achieve, but of course there are many factors in play. We haven’t spoken to the platform-holders about it recently, and their stances might have changed since we last did, so it’s something we’ll be investigating once we’ve got the PlayStation platform launched and running.

There’s some advantage to PlayStation having its own community before enabling cross-play. It means that PlayStation users can learn the game together, as opposed to being completely new compared to the other console community which has had the game for a while and knows exactly how everything works.

Thanks for this. Kind of disappointing, but it sounds more like PS4 and Xbox are the issue here. That is unfortunate.

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DreamerUSA escreveu:

Thanks for this. Kind of disappointing, but it sounds more like PS4 and Xbox are the issue here. That is unfortunate.

From my understanding of other articles about X-play for other games, the blame is mostly on Sony. There was a conference a few months back between MS, Sony and Nintendo about this, and only one was opposed as it involved a restructuring of their network or something (even though the other 2 had to do the same thing too, but were willing).

Hope this will change in the future.

Consoles live and die by their exclusive offerings. So, in any decision that needs to be made, that must be taken into account.

"How will this draw potential customers to purchase our console?"

That doesn't mean they don't make a lot of money in other ways, like licensing. But, everything is controlled by that above question because that is the keystone for all the other monetization plans.

A fairly up-to-date list of cross-platform games:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/all-cross-platform-games/

PoE's monetization strategy has to be taken into account, though. That may make it more desirable as a cross-platform game, since it comes with a continuing monetization plan already built into the game.

PS - Then again, it's now Tencent's baby... They might have a pretty loud voice where this is concerned if they can get a favorable deal.

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Corrison escreveu:

From my understanding of other articles about X-play for other games, the blame is mostly on Sony. There was a conference a few months back between MS, Sony and Nintendo about this, and only one was opposed as it involved a restructuring of their network or something (even though the other 2 had to do the same thing too, but were willing).

Hope this will change in the future.

There's a lot of history between these two companies regarding cross-play: whichever console has the dominant market-share likes to keep their console closed-off and exclusive; they're already winning the console race, have so many million installed players, so there's little to no benefit in opening the game up to allow the rival system to benefit from access to that large install base. Whoever is trailing tends to take a more "open and friendly" stance, because that helps attract players to the platform, as well as build up brand loyalty which can help them win the subsequent next-gen console race.

The situation has flip-flopped practically every generation.

At one point, Microsoft had the dominant market share and Sony were trailing, and Sony wished to have cross-play working for Final Fantasy XI. Needless to say, Microsoft refused for the entire generation.

In other words they're both as bad as each other, and their policies seem to be dictated more by their market share than anything else. If Microsoft wins the next console race with their XBox Two (or whatever) outselling PS5, the situation is guaranteed to flip once more.

Sony recently re-evaluated their policies, and the door has been opened to cross-play though it's likely still not a thing Sony will allow easily, and developers would likely have to jump through a ton of hoops to implement it.

The policy was changed as a result of the backlash and controversy surrounding Fortnite: a game that was big enough, and popular enough to put Sony under sufficient pressure to cause them to crack in this way. Path of Exile is certainly popular, but does it have the same sort of clout to achieve what Fortnight managed? I don't think it does; and while GGG could probably jump through the hoops to get crossplay implemented if they were determined enough to do so, you have to wonder whether the time and effort required to do so would be time well spent.

If it were an easy thing to implement (just enable something in the game's code) then absolutely crossplay would be worth implementing for a number of reasons. But Sony don't *want* crossplay, they simply want a Fortnite-level backlash even less, so even after the policy change they're not going to simply allow every developer to flip a switch and merge their communities.

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Pobatti escreveu:

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If it were an easy thing to implement (just enable something in the game's code) then absolutely crossplay would be worth implementing for a number of reasons. But Sony don't *want* crossplay, they simply want a Fortnite-level backlash even less, so even after the policy change they're not going to simply allow every developer to flip a switch and merge their communities.

It's all about the money. Any "technical difficulties" tied just to enabling crossplay are smoke-screens and fake excuses. There are technical issues surrounding porting games to entirely different platforms. (We've all seen that.)

It's about the money. It's about protecting the health of their marketplace and keeping their platform desirable. It's about processing online purchases, having exclusive titles that push sales, developing communities that are "loyal fans" and competing for licensing fees, etc..

When it comes down to what's good for the "health of a game" nobody cares unless it significantly impacts their pocketbook. As far as the console makers are concerned, most games quickly die after XX days after release... Any players left playing "free muliplayer" that are not attracting additional game or console sales or who are not purchasing in-game items are frankly an "expense," not an asset. Those players who are not in some way generating currency for the console makers are a liability.

The only thing that makes playerbases like that attractive is the data they can collect from them and the opportunities they have for selling them other titles and having them convince their friends to buy additional games or consoles. None of that is positively effected by console makers coming together to work with developers to develop crossplay games.

Juzst my 2 Cents on this Topic ... I love this game and i have nothing against Consoles (im PC-Gamer Tho) but i hate this permanent bickering about "mee mee we dont share shit with others mee mee" Exclusives, yes maybe do that if u think thats the only way to make people buy your 500€ tincans but at least let me play with my friends that were dumb enough to give u that money, dont make me talk em over to pc cause then u wont get money anyway
cause with this attitude u wont bring me to buy ANY console ever.

Must say i really dont get it ... i dont see mac and pc fight over who can launch what game and if they can play whatever "Cross-Platform" together ... it just works and its done ... why do consoles always have to fight... its just sad ...

#Anyway as i said, just my 2 cents, and far too late but i didnt see any recent posts about this topic.