“It’s something that could be very exciting for us to pursue”
With all the discussion surrounding cross-network play these days, you’d think Blizzard would have enabled the feature already in Overwatch. Letting PS4 and Xbox One players the opportunity to play together is always a good thing in our books, and — based on an interview with game director Jeff Kaplan — is looks like there may be some hope after all.
Following the annual BlizzCon convention over the weekend, Eurogamer caught up with Kaplan to talk about Overwatch’s newest hero, Ashe, as well as the possibility of cross-play and a host of other topics. It’s a very informative interview and is worth reading if you’re an Overwatch fan. His comments about cross-play are what caught our attention. They can be read below.
EG: Are you working on enabling PS4-Xbox One cross-play in light of Sony loosening up?
“We’re super-excited about what’s going on with cross-play in all sorts of different games, from Rocket League to Fortnite, and we are constantly in discussions with the first-parties, Microsoft and Sony, to see where they’re at and gauge where their temperature is at. It’s something that would be very exciting for us to pursue.”
EG: Is it something you are pursuing?
“We are definitely having conversations that we’re interested in the thought of it. It’s very complicated – from a technology standpoint, a game design standpoint, and from a business relationship standpoint. But we would be excited to tackle all of those challenges; we would love to try. We’re gamers; “Why can’t my buddies on this system or that system play together?” We sympathise with that, we want to be able to do that too.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Kaplan states that Blizzard is “open-minded” about putting Overwatch on Nintendo Switch. As long as it’s “viable” and there’s a “business relationship” with Nintendo, then they “would love to do it.”
What are your thoughts on cross-play coming to Overwatch? Leave us a comment down below.