Co-op games have become more prominent in the Internet age, and the widespread COVID-19 pandemic has further solidified online cooperative titles as an important means of staying connected.It Takes Twowinning Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021is one of the best recent case studies. Ghost Ship Games' first-person shooterDeep Rock Galacticis another co-op title that has grown in popularity over the last few years, owing to its developer’s steady pipeline of content and expansion to new consoles.
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Cross-Play in the Games Industry
Cross-play isn’t a consistent feature for multi-platform games. There are plenty of titles that support the idea, including multiple AAA shooters likeApex Legends,Fortnite, andCall of Duty; as well as popular cases includingMinecraft,Among Us,Dead by Daylight, andGenshin Impact. However, just as many games likeMonster Hunter Rise(available on PC and Switch) do not support cross-play despite obvious co-op potential. The upcomingDying Light 2will not support cross-play at launch, according to lead designer Tymon Smektala.
With major shifts in the video game landscape like Microsoft acquiring both ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard, it’s hard to say what the future holds regarding exclusivity. Sony has previously discussed its interest ingetting more cross-play games on PlayStation hardware, and there have been cases likeDestiny 2getting cross-play between PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Stadia alongside Season of the Lost in August 2021.
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How Deep Rock Galactic Could Handle Cross-Play
One obvious solution to the issue of cross-play inDeep Rock Galacticis implementing an account system tied to the game itself rather than having it be tied to platform. With officialDeep Rock Galacticaccounts it might be feasible for multi-platform users to join together, and people could get cross-save capabilities to swap platforms entirely if desired. This has been seen with games likeMinecraft, which had a Nintendo Switch-exclusive version in 2017 beforeBedrock edition launched in 2018 - requiring a Microsoft accountto connect with friends.
Ghost Ship is a small team compared to giants like Mojang and Microsoft, and it’s questionable how feasible this solution would be even using the support of publisherCoffee Stain. Still, it’s an idea worth considering. Many players likely have hundreds of hours poured into the ongoing title on platforms like PC, which makes the idea of starting over on the brand-new PlayStation skews less appealing. Plenty of dwarves across the Internet could be getting into co-op shenanigans, there just needs to be a good cross-play option to try.
Deep Rock Galacticis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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