How Cross-Play on Xbox and Windows 10 Will Work

With the release of Windows 10, one of Microsoft’s new headline features is Cross-Play between Xbox One and PC players. This isn’t the company’s first foray into cross platform play.

Back in 2007, FASA studios, which had a first-party publishing deal with Microsoft, released Shadowrun, a fast-paced shooter that could be played competitively between Xbox 360 and PC players. Despite a lot of talk ahead of release about console players holding their own against PC players, after release multiplayer matches were dominated by those playing with a mouse and keyboard.

I was able to ask Shannon Loftis, Microsoft’s head of publishing (and the producer of Shadowrun) why this time it’s going to be different.

“Shadowrun was not a great candidate for Cross-Play because, as you say, it’s a competitive shooter where different configurations perform differently,” Loftis admitted. “I would agree that was an experiment that didn’t turn out the way we wanted.”