Do We Care About Cross-Platform Gaming?

Cross-platform play may not be as important to gamers as many in the industry believe, with the results from GameTrack’s Q4 2017 survey showing a general indifference to the trend among consumers.

The value of PlayStation, Xbox and PC owners being able to play together has been a regular discussion over the last 12 months. Microsoft has made the cross-platform play between console and PC a core feature of its first-party strategy, while Sony has been widely criticised for its reluctance to allow functionality between PlayStation and Xbox.

However, in a GameTrack survey that spanned gamers in the UK, France, Germany and Spain in Q4 of last year, data revealed a lack of belief in the value of gamers playing together across platforms: when asked about their feelings about cross-platform play in general, 58% of respondents admitted to being “Indifferent” to the trend. Only 8% felt either “Fairly Negative” or “Very Negative” about the industry’s current push towards tearing downs the barriers around gaming platforms, and a total of 34% saw it as Fairly or Very Positive thing overall. But, ultimately, the largest number of respondents weren’t moved in either direction. Surprising!