Bethesda Has Harsh Words For Sony Over PlayStation's Cross-Play

On this week's dumpster fire edition of The Trophy Room: A PlayStation Podcast, hosts Joseph and Kyle talk about say Bethesda has harsh words for Sony. Even going far enough to say that games like Elder Scrolls: Legends wont be on PlayStation unless Sony changes their ways on Cross-play and cross-progression. Bethesda, seemingly dropping single player games like Dishonored, for a multiplayer focus. TimeSplitters is hopefully alive again, and in the arms on THQ Nordic. Doom Eternal gets us hyped, yet slightly worried. Lastly, the gang talks about their thoughts on the Latest Red Dead Redemption news!

[jairusmonillas]

Bethesda has been anti-sony for over a decade. Releasing buggy games, whining over ps3/ps4 versions of their games. They will do anything MS asked them to do. lol

[roadkillers]

I am with Bethesda, why not make cross-play a thing? I understand Sony's stance, but if enough people are against their stance we will get crossplay. It is a shame that I want to play a free game with my friends, but have to pony up hundreds.

Edit: its not just that either, friends like Halo so they got an Xbox, I enjoy steam so i have PC, other guy enjoys Turismo so he got a PS4... One of my buddies has a Switch, but idk if that supports crossplay. Let us play together while your on top Sony, don't wait until you fall again to make huge changes (ps3).

[zackeroniii]

Sony falling? Have you been under a rock? Check the statistics sony and ps4 is at the top of the food chain and I know for a fact it's only the people without a PS4 that's crying about crossplay...I'm not, and neither are other PS4 owners...it's a fake issue created by people who don't own one. A PS4 is cheaper than a PC and Xflop, sooooooo.....

[sampsonon]

the only people against sony are people that made the mistake in buying an xbox.
PS owners could care less.

[ILostMyMind]

Was PS3 a fail?

[kayoss]

Play together? Most of the games you listed are exclusives to their respected console? How are you going to crossplay Gran Turismo with Xbox players??

[BLAKHOODe]

Excellent perspective on the cross-play argument and I can relate. I play Fortnite on PS4 and Xbox One, because I have friends on each console and I like playing with ALL my friends, not just some of them. So I buy 2 BattlePasses every season, doing twice as many challenges just to keep up with my friends.

Of course, people who don't have this problem, who are happy with what friends they have on their system of choice won't care, nor even consider their own situation could change some day and they may end up in a similar situation, which is why it's smart to fight for cross-play NOW while it's a hot subject instead of later.

[BLAKHOODe]

@kayoss

He was pointing out that some of his friends are on one console because of exclusives, while other friends are on another console because of it's exclusives. And that he would have to buy both consoles in order to play with all his friends; particularly in multiplatform games.

[DarXyde]

If enough people were against their stance, sales would have suffered and prompted Sony to react. That has yet to happen, and i think as long as they continue to make great games and offer great content on their consoles, they probably won't ever need to.

I cannot speak for everyone, but i really don't care about cross play. I get why people want it, but it's such a nonissue in my opinion. I had zero expectations of it happening on any platform. It's cool to see it happening, but as I've said in another comments section, I feel it is a feature people will request and rarely use. I also think it's far more complicated for Sony; PS4 shares quite a bit of its library with Xbox One. I'm not sure what kind of demand that much intersectionality will place on the network(s), but I expect that there will be demands and pressure on developers to take advantage of this and maintain server activity. I'm not sure this is rightly feasible, to be honest. I imagine cross play with Switch should be manageable. In that case, Sony can do it, but again, not something i would take advantage of. If you do, more power to you, but like I said, i doubt it'll be as popular as critics may suggest.

My two cents.

[jimbost79]

Thats the thing tho mate, enough people arent against it. The vast majority dont know or care about it.
Microsoft charges people to play free games don't they?

[Atanasrikard]

@kayoss

Read his words carefully. He is talking about his situation. He has friends who have xbox, he has a pc, another friend has PS4 and one of them has a switch. He isn't talking about those games specifically. He is however, talking about being able to play with those friends in other games.

@sampsonon

I was against MS last gen when they did it. I am against Sony this gen while they do it. I am more than happy with my purchase of an xbox. I am sorry you are such a fanboy.

[Kumakai]

Because Sony can do no wrong to Kool-aid drinking fanboys.

[zombiewombie]

They do have crossplay. Generally with pc.

[AspiringProGenji]

Yeah Sony. People didn’t support your product but still want the ability to play with Ps4 owners. It is not Sony’s fault your friends pur Halo first than playing with you, or the other way around

[BlackTar187]

@blakhood

So what? Stop with this entitlement crap.

[Skull521]

Well the good news is Sony has strong first party games, they’ll need it as they loose 3rd party support as companies find they can’t offer the experiences and features they want on the PlayStation platform.

[UnHoly_One]

You guys need to realize that this site is so far up Sony's rectum that they can't see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore.

Go ANYWHERE else on the internet and see what other communities have to say about cross play.

Everyone that isn't a blind fanboy wants them to do it.

[Silly gameAr]

@Un-holy one
Can you be more specific in what sites to go to to see people up in arms about cross play, because anywhere else I go , it's mostly a meh on the subject.

And, this site definitely isn't up Sony's butt, but you can keep pretending that thats the case if it helps you sleep at night.

[Theknightofnights]

@Silly gameAR

You really think there isn't a large preference for Sony on this site? We can monitor this pretty easily with just the upvote process.

If one writes a comment "Xbox sucks" or "Nintendo sucks" (or any combination therein) they'll receive a copious amount of agrees (and often more agrees than disagrees) before eventually being flagged.

If one writes a comment "Playstation sucks" it will receive a HUGE amount of disagrees (outnumbers the agrees 10 to 1 easy) before being flagged.

There was an article written by 10th Rider with a few examples of this. Just like Nintendo Everything has a Nintendo bias among it's community, this site has a Sony bias.

[PurpHerbison]

Everything comes full circle. Sony will eventually fall. The new leader will capitalize on their mistakes and get comfortable. While comfortable that new leader will start making mistakes and Sony will slide back in again. Rinse. Repeat.

[roadkillers]

Look at my disagrees and agrees, for a community that is largely behind Sony there are a decent amount of people finding the lack of crossplay an issue. The ratio is above 25%. The other group doesnt care which way, so why not work with us. Customers, literally the 89 who disagreed with me have 0 to lose, but more to gain from crossplay. It just doesn make sense to go against it unless you own Sony stock.

[AspiringProGenji]

Every site you go you find most not caring. You @Unholy keep accusing this site of being pro sony with those nasty words of yours as usual. Why are you still here?

Moreover this game is nothing to be making s big fuss about. Even if Sony allowed it it won’t change nothing, or are people suddenly gonna care like with Minecraft?

[neomahi]

An Xbox fanboy wanting to see the demise of Sony would say this, not a legitimate gamer. It's an attempt to feel better about themself.

[scofios]

Roadkillers

FYI
Last gen
1WII
2 PS3
3 XBOX360

Next time Check your fact first before posting bullshit.

[ThanatosDMC]

Tell all your friends to buy a PS4. Problem solved.

[kingfortoday]

Where were your tears when Sony was the one asking for cross play lmao

[badz149]

@Skull521

"...they’ll need it as they loose 3rd party support as companies find they can’t offer the experiences and features they want on the PlayStation platform."

LOL wake up, kid! stop dreaming. can you please give us just 1 multiplat game that has sold more copies on the Xbone since they announced they openly support cross-play? just 1! anything? FYI, your internet is not playing or messing with you and your searches because there really is NONE!

and just because MS is desperate to expand their player pool by offering cross-play, all those 3rd parties are gonna skip the platform that is gonna sell their games the most?? LOL who would be so dumb?

[Old_Prodigy]

NEWSFLASH!!! PS3 Outsold Xbox 360, time to rejoin reality. http://www.vgchartz.com/ana...

[DarkKaine]

Not sure how you're getting downvotes but you're absolutely right.
Crossplay should be a thing and should have been a long time ago.
Anyone that doesn't agree is trying to defend their purchase for whatever reason and lack the ability to to understand that these practices are very anti-consumer.

[Pickledpepper]

I have all xbox consoles I also have all ps consoles even all nintendo consoles apart from the n64 at the moment. I would like cross play please

[Pickledpepper]

I own and game on all platforms and really would like cross play. Would be a nice addition

[fiveby9]

Bethesda is biting the hand that feeds them. I'm surprised Bethesda is being so vocal. This tactic may well backfire on them. Are they just being the handmaiden of MS? I may just forgo FO76 completely now. Who cares about some CCG they are trying to push. Nobody really plays that game. CCG will continue to be dominated by Hearthstone and MTG,

[ForeverTheGoat]

Lol biting the hand that feed them?....Lol okay

[bluefox755]

Yeah, I doubt they're going to give up 80 million potential customers to make some dumb statement that only fanboys care about.

[Eonjay]

Its not them that is talking. It is Microsoft through proxy.

[-Foxtrot]

Yup

Bethesda blamed the CELL and now we have the PS4 the still feel like they give Xbox special treatment.

Bethesda make their mouths go on this so much that if they were THIS bothered then they'd have rallied up a movement last gen to support Sony in getting Microsoft to do cross play then. Why didn't they said anything when it was trying to be done last gen? If more people spoke out then maybe we wouldn't have had this issue now.

I feel like they are only making their mouths go to divert attention from the criticism of hardcore Fallout fans who loved the single player experience and are ticked off with Fallout 76.

[naruga]

literally Bethesda shoud have been a 2 nd party for Xbox (i wonder how MS never cared to buy them or have exclusives with them)....everything they make is first Xbox and after it everything else...................the thing is that everything they release is up-down shit in gold cover (excpet Doom 2016 i think) ...Sony should NOT get bothered with idiots of industry ---just cut them off from the fanbase and see who is in pain.....even if their precious IP (for me isthe most overrated SHT ever) Elder Scrolls 6 goes Xbox- exclusive/first on, PS doesnt lose anything , is not PS3-360 era anymore , games like MOnster Hunter form Japan Rip apart shits like Skyrim

[Jinger]

How have they treated PS4 less than Xbox One? I mean they were nice enough to make a Skyrim and DOOM port for PSVR. As well as supporting PS4 Pro upgrades for DOOM and Fallout 4.

Also, it's not like they were the only ones who had issues with the CELL...

Edit: Also, it's not Bethesda's fault that Sony had more strict rules with mods which caused problems for Fallout 4.

[Mr_Writer85]

"Why didn't they said anything when it was trying to be done last gen?"

They had very few (if any) multiplayer games.

Fallout 3 and NV didn't have multiplayer.

Oblivion and Skyrim didn't have multiplayer.

Did Dishonored or Rage?

Where as this gen they have TESO, Fallout 76, Doom and now this card game.

[rainslacker]

@Mr Writer

yeah, but they didn't make a fuss about cross play with Elder Scrolls online, which released well before MS decided to get on board.

The reason it likely didn't was because it was on Xbox as well, and unlike FFXIV where they kept it off Xbox because it would have been difficult to manage the separation of the user bases, they just kept every platform for itself.

So where were they for that game, which likely would have benefited much more for being cross play with PC than their Fallout games, even the MP focused one. Or was that Sony's fault too, despite releasing 2 years prior to Phil ever having the words cross play cross his lips.

I think Bethesda didn't make a fuss about it because at the time of TESO release, or pre-launch marketing, there was still some belief from the publishers who loved MS that MS would actually have an exceptional generation and stand toe to toe, or even outdo Sony.

So, when they come out now saying how Sony is all bad, and it'll be a problem for Sony, its kind of hard to take them seriously when they haven't been the paradigms of fighting for the feature until it became convenient for MS.

[gangsta_red]

@Rainslacker

So basically you're saying we can't take Bethesda seriously because they didn't make a fuss about it a long time ago?

This can't be the argument you're making? When is an acceptable timeline to take a company or a person's stance serious then? Mr Writer is correct, they are just now getting into more multiplayer type games than they have in the past. So of course now they have an opinion on crossplay, not when this type of crossplay between consoles was only a gamer pipe dream.

"...became convenient for MS."

Yours and others only reasoning seems to be this deep conspiracy theory that MS and Bethesda are working hand in hand to make Sony look bad.

Where is the the actual facts that Bethesda is doing MS's bidding? This sure didn't come up when they put Skyrim on PSVR.

Are other third party devs also working for MS to try and undermine Sony? Why hasn't this been exposed by the larger media outlets? Or are they also being bought and paid for by MS? If MS and Bethesda were in such diabolical relations then why does Bethesda continue to support the PS brand?

It's amazing how fast people turn on a company when that company starts saying mean words about Sony.

[rainslacker]

I'm saying I can't take them seriously because they spent most of last gen not having much good to say about Sony. They act like this is a big deal now, yet didn't bat an eye over trying to get it when they made ESO. And most of all, i'd say I don't take them seriously, because in no stretch of the imagination do I see them forgoing releasing their games on Sony's platform because of this issue. The only reason they might do that is if MS wrote them a rather sizable check.

With the recent comment, they didn't exactly make their case why it would be dire for Sony to not acquiesce on this issue.

When is an appropriate time to take someone serious? I'd say its when they stop posturing, and actually stand behind their convictions they seem to hold important. Bethesda needs to fix its buggy games before they worry about bringing platforms together.

"Yours and others only reasoning seems to be this deep conspiracy theory that MS and Bethesda are working hand in hand to make Sony look bad. "

I'm not one to prescribe to massive conspiracy theories. I'm not saying MS bid them to make such a comment. But when 4 years ago Bethesda didn't bat an eye over splitting up the community over ESO....one of its biggest money makers....it seems rather convienant that now its dire for Sony because they won't allow it with other platforms. Obviously, the current climate surrounding the issue made them think this, which is even more reason to take them seriously, because they only seem to care now because its a hot topic issue, and not because they cared in the past.

[chiefJohn117]

The sad part is ppl like Naruga is seeing it from a company standpoint and not a gamer standpoint. Head so far up Sony behind he's against gamer friendly practices if it means to defend Sony. SMH, Madden crossplay would be cool and appreciated

[ShadowWolf712]

@chief

That's EA's bag, not Sony's.

[gangsta_red]

"They will do anything MS asked them to"

And what exactly has MS asked them to do? Was it to port their games to the PS brand? How about a Skyrim version for PSVR, did MS ask them to do that also?

Anti Sony? How? The cell processer was legit hard for some developers, especially ones that made third party games. It's always funny to read these type of comments.

[BlackTar187]

Why is Fallout 4 so much more buggy on ps4? Have they even fixed all those issues yet? i won't touch on the crap that is Bethesda PS3 support.

[gangsta_red]

@BlackTar187

Fallout 4 was buggy on Xbox also and even still is this because MS asked Bethesda to make their games buggy on PS4?

[BlackTar187]

Don't think I said Ms made them do anything. I simply stated as fact that Beth takes little care of the Sony customers compared to others. I won't pretend ps3 had some issues that were linked to architecture and beth didn't care to learn the system enough to fix them but what we have here is a trend. So when beth threatens Sony I find it's hilarious.

[Imalwaysright]

BlackTar187

The same way that Sony didn't care about every single developer in this industry and how it would affect their games when they put on the market a console that not only drove up development costs but also increased development time? A console that was made hard to develop for on purpose? A console that Cerny himself said it had issues and he knew it in 2007 (seriously, that guy doesn't get the recognition he deserves).

Bethesda games buggy on Sony's consoles? LMAO games made with the creation engine are buggy in every platform. In fact if you go to nexus the unnoficial patch for fallout 4 is the in top 5 most dowloaded mods and for skyrim its the 6th.

I know that PS fanboys love to play the victim but this is taking things to another level. If there is a conspiracy between Bethesda and MS prove it with facts.

[chiefJohn117]

Fanboy logic lol they will come up with any BS they pull out rear. 🐎

[bluefox755]

Yeah, I never understood that.

[gamer7804]

while you are right that Bethesda hasn't been too keen on Sony, I like to base my decisions on whether an argument is good or bad, not based on who it is coming from.

In this case the argument is good, cross play is good for developers and gamers. Blind loyalty is not going to help push the gaming market forward into the future.

[kevnb]

They just do whatever microsoft wants pr wise, this even includes bashing the pc platform which has always brought them more sales than xbox. Now you see them do the same with playstation, another platform that makes them more money than xbox.

[TGG_overlord]

It's still fun as hell to hear their whine every year though.

[trooper_]

Betheseda needs to take a backseat, and shut the trap.

I still can't believe this is over a card game.

[frostypants]

This. Remember the godawful Skyrim port for PS3 that Bethesda made next to no viable effort to fix for literally years?

[rainslacker]

They aren't opposed to taking Sony's money to promote RDR2 though are they?

[ps3vita4life]

RDR2 is being developed and published by Rockstar not Bethesda. Get your facts straight lol!

[rainslacker]

You're right. I don't even know what I was thinking. Just one of those moments I guess.

[Ausbo]

The thing is though, Sony will not want to miss out on future Bethesda games. Bethesda might be big enough to intimidate Sony into giving us the crossplay we deserve.

[UNCHARTED2FANATIC]

YUP!! back when skyrim released THERE WERE NO PS3 REVIEW COPIES SENT OUT TO ANY REVIEWER. I'm sure anybody who didn't know can figure out why.

[ChristopherJack]

Wow, the tin foil hats sure are tight on this site.

[StormLegend]

No one cares about Bethesda games. So yeah go ahead and remove that garbage called elder scrolls. Who even plays that?

[Movefasta1993]

That's bull and you know it.

[zackeroniii]

Not really I don't really care about bethesda either or eldurrr skrollz.

[Shiken]

I care, so yes it is bull. .any care about Bethesda's games.

DOOM
Wolfenstein
Elder Scrolls
Fallout
Rage 2

Bethesda has more going on than people realize it seems. HOWEVER...with that said...do you honestly believe that they are going to cut out 50% of the gaming market?

No they are just blowing PR up our asses and backing MS like they always have. This is nothing new, and nothing will change from it.

[kevnb]

@zackeroniii so since you dont care about bethesda games nobody does? Interesting logic.

[ChrisW]

I don't care to play SmartPhone games... Therefore everyone else MUST not care as well!!!

[Garethvk]

How do you figure that? Last I checked they had some of the more popular franchises out there Also for games nobody cares about they had no issues packinf Quakecon or their E3 showcaae.

[SierraGuy]

Took the words out of my mouth.