I understand the principle but specifically how does it work?
Is it about servers? Do all consoles have the ability to support cross-play, and its just a matter of the developers working to include it in a game? What are the challenges involved in cross-play?
In: Technology
Former game developer here,
For a given online game released on console and PC, there is no impediment for cross-play. The games both almost certainly communicate using the exact same data protocol, and there is nothing inherent about different client ends (console or PC) that preclude one from inter-operating with the other through a shared middle-man (the server). The platforms are often divided artificially, typically through an identifier in the protocol, if cross-play is undesirable, the server and other clients would be otherwise completely unaware of what platform you’re playing from.
Cross-play may be denied for the sake of licensing agreements or game balance. Maybe Sony doesn’t want PC players mixing with their console players. Often cross-play is denied for game balance. PC gamers often have play advantages over console gamers. A mouse and keyboard tends to be faster, more responsive, and more precise than a controller, for example. PC gamers can also modify their graphical settings to their greatest, most performant advantage, where a console is fixed. Also, cheating is more prolific on PC. The desire is to ensure as much as possible that the play experience is as even and level as possible.
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