The cross-play renaissance continues with Rocket League news
Now you can play RC car soccer with all your friends, no matter what platform they play on.
Rocket League, a popular video game about shooting oversized soccer balls around with tiny cars, is poised to become the second game ever to offer full cross-platform matchmaking across the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.
Game developer Psyonix announced Monday that Rocket League has been admitted into the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program, joining only one other current title — Fortnite. Starting now, Rocket League’s matchmaking across all its online modes will include players from all gaming platforms. This means that soon your friend who has Rocket League on the Switch and your friend who is fully a member of the PC Master Race can now finally join forces with you in a game on your PS4.
The importance of this announcement cannot be overstated. Sony has adamantly refused to allow cross-platform play until very recently, providing all manner of flowery excuses to their inquiring consumers. Surprising no one, the former president of Sony Online Entertainment revealed last June the real reason why Sony wouldn’t allow cross-play: It was about money.
But thanks to the huge popularity of Fortnite — and the game’s loyal but demanding fanbase — Sony relented under pressure to allow cross-play for the beloved battle royale as a part of the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program. The addition of Rocket League to the cross-play roster shows that giving into Fortnite cross-play wasn’t just a one-time Sony concession. It gives the indication that Sony may truly be exploring unrestricted cross-play as a viable future business model.
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Undeniably, cross-platform play for all multiplayer games is what the gaming community yearns for. It would mitigate the pain of being forced to buy a certain console just because most of your friends already have that console.
While gaming used to be considered an isolating hobby, it has increasingly become a social experience which makes any sort of restriction on that socialization a noticeable pain point, and one that many gamers deem worthy of loud complaint. We hope Rocket League‘s cross-play is a sign of more cross-play to come in 2019.