It might be a big competitive advantage if your console offered cross-platform gaming… or by reducing the value of exclusives it might give your competition a boost. Game publishers will continue to push for more cross-platform game play and connectivity, while platform makers will continue to resist. There have been rumors of such an arrangement for the Xbox One, which would reduce the hardware price if you sign a contract for Internet service with a provider like Comcast. Hardware pricing is kept low for consumers by network providers that subsidize the hardware in order to lock in subscribers for two years. What may in fact happen ultimately is that the console market will look more like the mobile market, with hardware makers generating profits through sales of hardware and a cut of all software sales. Activision would solve that problem handily if given the chance by the platform makers. The difficult feat is to take a game like Call of Duty and make it playable seamlessly across consoles. Asynchronous play is relatively easy and undemanding compared to synchronous multiplayer, so that is already being done. Play on your phone in the morning, then grab a session on your lunch break via Facebook on your computer, then play on your tablet when you get home – and your progress is saved and tracked through each platform, so you never have to repeat a level unless you want to.The trend is obvious – more and more, games are allowing cross-platform communication at a minimum. King has had a huge hit with Candy Crush Saga, partly because the game is playable on multiple platforms – and your progress is synced across those platforms. The vast majority of the gaming audience would prefer that a game is available on multiple platforms. The power of gaming platforms is rising, making it easier for games to be cross-platform (especially more casual games). The potential audience for gaming is far larger than any one network – well, maybe not larger than Facebook’s network, but certainly larger than any console’s network. Zynga has 187 million monthly active users. Apple’s Game Center has over 65 million members. Those are impressive numbers… until you start looking at the size of other networks. Xbox Live has some 50 million members, PlayStation Network over 90 million members. If the profits in the business are really from software sales and not from hardware, is this limiting potential profitability But Halo could sell many more units if it was also available on PlayStation. Hardware makers want to have exclusive titles in order to sell hardware… yet an exclusive title is limiting the audience by its very nature. If you really want to play a particular title that’s only the PS3, that’s why you’ll choose a PS3 over an Xbox 360. Exclusive titles sell hardware, and that’s been true for decades. Uniqueness is one of the key selling points of consoles. Yet the console makers generally don’t allow this. Activision would be happy if Call of Duty players on Xbox could play with PlayStation players likewise EA would be excited to have FIFA players competing across all platforms. Certainly Wargaming would love to see that happen. World of Tanks on the Xbox 360 has its own servers, and there will not be cross-platform play with World of Tanks on the PC. The game is playable across the Wii U, PC and iOS. There are 4,000 user-created levels available, which Wii U users can access. We can’t wait to see how creative they are, whether in tactical multiplayer online or in the new levels they build.” Cubemen 2 is an amazing game and a great fit for Nintendo players. “We’ve spent the last few months working with both Nintendo and 3 Sprockets, the game’s developer, to make this a reality. “I’m really proud to be able to announce this,” said Nic Watt, creative director at Nnooo. Australian indie developers Nnooo are releasing Cubemen 2 later this year on the Wii U, joining the PC and iOS versions in allowing cross-platform multiplayer and sharing of content. We’re seeing glimmers of this on Nintendo Wii U. You were never allowed to play with gamers who dwelt in other gardens – in fact, you couldn’t even see them or be made aware of their existence. Traditionally game consoles have been walled gardens, where users could wander freely amongst the delights of the games provided.
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