Cross-console play, Gearbox, 2K, pls

Battleborn Battleborn General Discussion
#1

So Microsoft and Sony have opened up for cross-platform play for about a year now. Merging PS4 and Xbone communities would be a huge boost for the PvP pool. This could really combat the issue with multiple ques not getting enough players, people conplaing about facing the same teams, and just generally prolong the longevity of this game on consoles. That would also be a great point to draw new players who hesitate because of low numbers.

And I know this has been asked before, and I’ve seen @Jythri address this question 5 month ago with a bit of a vague answer “This is still in consideration, but won’t happen any time soon.” And, I don’t know, it seems to me that this could be such a game changer, that it should be among the top priority goals, right along giving Galilea the ability to fly and spawn varelsi out of desecrate.

Links to articles talking about cross platform thing:


https://www.google.kz/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2016/03/14/xbox-live-now-supports-cross-platform-multiplayer-with-ps4/amp/
https://www.google.kz/amp/www.gamengadgets.com/you-can-now-play-cross-platform-on-ps4-and-xbox-one/amp/
(They even talk about next Call of Duty potentially having cross console play, like it f#cking needs it!)
And a link to jythri’s comment on reddit:

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PC-Console Cross platform can work
#2

It won’t happen. Sony isn’t interested in doing it from a business or policy standpoint, regardless of whether or not developers (such as Psyonix) have figured out how to do it on a technical level.

Edit : [quote=“temirarash, post:1, topic:1557385”]
So Microsoft and PC have opened up for cross-platform play for about a year now
[/quote]

Fixed that for you

1 Like
#3

One of my sons is a top player on RL and hates the cross play, says it isn’t syncing and they have to use Discourd.

#4

Isn’t syncing what?

#5

I don’t play RL but apparently the vehicle multiplayer physics timing cross platform.

#6

Sorry for the delay. I’ve had a couple of busy travel weekends with a vacation in the middle!

The first post is correct here. You cite the Xbox article, but Sony is still a bit more of a trick there. As cross-platform developers, we have a tricky policy and contract line to negotiate here.

We’re actually investigating some of this lightly again now (btw- this is something we’ve always wanted, but couldn’t have due to restrictions). What is mostly likely possible is PC + Xbox or PC + PS4. Getting approval for Xbox and PS4 together is much harder.

We would also need to make some non-trivial restructuring to our matchmaking. Which (if you’ve been around here for long) you know is something I very much want to do at some point.

Generally - this is possible and desired, but not trivial, so I have no current ETA.

15 Likes
PC-Console Cross platform can work
Next update: what we know so far
Cross platform?
Next update: what we know so far
#8

Let me take this opportunity to remind you, sir, that you f***ing ROCK.

Seriously. That you’re even keeping any hope alive to do this, it makes me all tingly inside. My supervisor and I were talking about this earlier, with regards to some game (can’t remember which). He’s a big console fan, especially PS, and I’m a PC guy. We were discussing how Microsoft is talking a lot about crossing-over PC and Xbox, anyhow. If it gets me more opportunities as a PC Battleborn player, I’m all for it.

And again, YOU ROCK.

4 Likes
#9

Breaking Character…

But… will I be able to play cross platform with my Gameboy Advance?

(In all seriousness… as a PC player, PC cross platform with ANYONE would be amazing)

3 Likes
#10

Shame that there are still non-technical issues preventing this from happening. Anyway, thank you for your hard work; looking forward to whatever you announce next, be it Season Pass Too, or Cross-console play, or Season Pass Redemption.

2 Likes
#11

Going into the business side of things again, the main deterrent in this happening for a game like Battleborn would rather be “can we afford to pay Microsoft and Sony to allow for cross-platform play for our title?”.

To break it down - the current console market structure is based around hardware sales (obviously). Sony and Microsoft make far less money on publishing their own software (which is why both companies have gradually dialed back what they themselves publish and instead relied on incentivizing developers to agree to exclusivity contracts for their platform - see: Microsoft’s recent trend of paying for a year of exclusivity on particular titles, or Sony’s exclusives on first-to-play DLC) than they do on hardware sales. For cross-platform titles this is difficult - after all, if all someone wants to do is play Call of Duty with their friends, all that matters is what their friends are playing Call of Duty on - the game is the exact same on either platform (aforementioned first-to-play deals notwithstanding). So currently, both Sony and Microsoft benefit from not allowing for cross-platform play. After all, if you bought an Xbox One and now all your friends are playing Call of Duty on their Ps4s, you’ll have to buy a Ps4 to play with them. Microsoft got their Xbox One sale, Sony gets their Ps4 sale, and both of them are happy.

So, who instead would benefit from cross-platform support from a business perspective? The publishers of course, as a wider consumer base to sell their product to means more money for them. Which means the burden of incentive would be on the developers towards Sony or Microsoft and not the other way around as it currently is. Activision would have to pay Sony and Microsoft to get them to agree to letting all that money from hardware sales to play Call of Duty fly out the window. And right now, I can list the number of publishers/developers that could afford to pony up the kind of money those companies might want on one hand. I don’t believe Gearbox would be one of them. 2K could be, but it’s likely it would only bother with it for their sports titles.

I forgot to mention a couple of factors that could tip the scales.

  1. Paid Online Multiplayer Subscriptions. Both Sony and Microsoft utilize these on their current platforms, and this could be seen as a hidden benefit to wipe away some of the lost hardware sales - more people to play online with means more people subscribing to play along with them. I know of more than a few people who own both platforms but only pay for a subscription on the one that they have more friends to play with on.

  2. Cross-Platform Play as a Premium Service. In the same vein as above, an easy way for both companies to make money off allowing for cross-platform play without harming their profit would be to charge for it. Something like another $20 USD added onto your yearly subscription or the like to open up cross-platform play.

#12

How would the disparities between Mouse & Keyboard vs Controller work for you guys in a Xbox/PC cross play scenario?

#13

That’s another issue, of course. :slight_smile:

As a designer, it’s the one that -actually- worries me about mixing PC and console. As a producer/director, the technical and first party issues are the much bigger hurdles.

I generally have two schools of thought here:

1) Battleborn is a bit more control-scheme-proof than other purely twitch shooter games.
We have some twitch, but we aren’t as one-shot kill dependent. Playing Kelvin on Mouse and Keyboard vs controller, for example, probably doesn’t give much advantage. Marquis would, but that might not be any more noticeable that just running across very VERY good Marquis characters. It would expose console players to aim-botters (which we’re still identifying and banning, by the way). So, fun fun.

2) We make a separate queue for opting-in.
This splits the queues more, but gives you the chance to play in the “mixed control scheme” queues for higher population. This is the decision we make if we believe that the difference between average PC players and average consoleplayers is big enough to matter.

5 Likes
PC-Console Cross platform can work
#14

Having watched many console players on Twitch, the PC advantage won’t come from aim, but rather the ability to turn 180 faster. The aim assist on console is ridiculous and borderline aimbot-tier, especially on certain characters like Oscar Mike and Caldarius. However, even at max sensitivity, you can spin 180 quick-melee escapes faster with KBM.

I think an ultimate solution would just be enabling KBM support for consoles. I know other games like Paragon have this.

3 Likes
#15

It’s aimbot tier on whiskeys ult I can tell you, always hated it, snaps to wrong target too

#16

I am curious as to the reasoning behind the low maximum sensitivity for Battleborn on console. In other FPS games (such as COD), the maximum sensitivity is significantly higher (on console) allowing the ability to turn 180 significantly faster (practically instantaneous).

#17

Do most console players keep aim assist on? After it ended up costing me kills because it snapped to the wrong target at the wrong time I turned it off.

1 Like
#18

I dont, it seems like it doesnt help unless the enemy is in your face :frowning: in fact if something gets in the way while you are sniping the aim gets all stupid…

I dont even know how it works!!!

#19

Idk you guys. I own it on both PC and PS4, and even though I spent hundreds more hours playing on PS4, I’m pretty sure PC Temirlan will wipe the floor with PS4 Temirlan. The superior accuracy and tracking makes for a big difference. Hence my post being about cross-console play, excluding PC players (even though, tbh, it’s PC that desperately needs more players to play with.)

#20

I can definitely say PC Hoho is better than console Hoho but the difference isn’t that big. I will say before I was use to Mouse & Keyboard I played competitively on PC with a controller and played fine. No one I played with even noticed i was using one so the advantage is there just not huge because this game isn’t a twitch shooter and the aim assist is a little ridiculous.

I really like the idea of a separate queue since I know a lot of the more casual players won’t want us mixed in with their games but some of the more competitive ones looking for a challenge might.

2 Likes
#21

so make the competitive queue permanent, and make it the xplatform queue? :smiley: