Over the years a number of developers have broken down this notion that console gaming should be hampered by platform exclusivity, achieved by slowly thinning the walls that segregate players who use different consoles from each other.
This is the so-called cross-platform concept, and it isn't new. For the uninitiated, it's when players compete with other friends who might be using a different hardware than them. Problem is, this leads to some crucial disadvantages among those engaged.
Case in point: suppose two players play the same game on different platforms — with one using a traditional handheld controller, one using a mouse and a keyboard. The game is a first-person shooter. Who has the leg up?
No, 'LawBreakers' Won't Feature Cross-Platform Play
In light of this glaring flaw, needless to say that there are holdouts. Tekken 7, for instance, doesn't support cross-platform play because of potential security risks. Now, LawBreakers won't support cross-platform play as well, as recently confirmed by the developers behind the gravity-based multiplayer title.
Responding to a tweet asking if LawBreakers would feature cross-platform play between PC and PlayStation 4, Cliff Bleszinski, the game's lead developer, called cross-platform play "dumb" but didn't explain why. As per the subsequent replies, however, one can definitely presume it's exactly for the reasons mentioned above.
Cross-Platform Play Would Be Unfair
"We made the decision not to do cross-play, and there are a lot of people with this pipe dream of PC and console cross-play," Bleszinski told PCGamesN amid a PS4 announcement of what was supposed to be a PC exclusive. "It's like, 'No, be the best console game you can be, or be the best PC game you can be.' Because then you get PC players getting angry that there's aim assist on console, or with balance issues."
Bleszinski, hinting of a possible console port of LawBreakers a year ago, has already expressed cross-platform play would be unfair, saying that between players who on one hand use traditional controllers and on the other use a keyboard and mouse setup, the latter "is going to win nine times out of 10."
Bleszinski, of Gears of War fame, is clearly not a fan of cross-platform, not because it connects players who use different platforms but because of the inherent disadvantages the concept entails, specifically between consoles and PCs. The series he worked on, however, has taken on a different direction.
Not too long ago, Microsoft claimed that Gears of War 4 players, regardless of the platform they played on, had rendered close performance results. That led to a permanent competitive cross-platform play in Gears of War 4's "Social Quickplay" mode.
For its part, Microsoft announced it would soon allow developers to add mouse or keyboard support for Xbox One games. This could potentially erase the disadvantage easily associated with cross-platform play.
LawBreakers Release Date
LawBreakers, previously named BlueStreak, will launch sometime this year both for the PC and PS4. It runs on Unreal Engine 4, is being developed by Boss Key Productions, and will be published by Nexon.
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