Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has alleged that cross-platform games will be a fixture in the future. The head of Rockstar Games’ parent company gave his thoughts on how the video game industry would move forward with cross-party titles, and he claimed that it was only a matter of time before it was commonplace.
“Eventually I think we will be in a cross-platform world, for a lot of titles,” Strauss Zelnick explained during the 27th annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference (via GameSpot). “Certainly, between console and PC.”
Cross-platform games have emerged in the past couple of years, with Microsoft leading the charge with its “Play Anywhere” titles on Xbox One and PC. Zelnick admitted that Microsoft was “basically already there” with this idea, and he expected other video game console developers to follow suit. Zelnick also stated his case for a breakdown in “system walls” that would see gamers’ progress, achievements, and other information transcend each platform they own. Streaming games, in particular, was front and centre of Zelnick’s explanation, as he revealed why it was vital for companies to listen and cater to their audiences.
“The closed system walls are coming down, and they have to,” Zelnick added. “Streaming is going to accelerate those walls coming down. We’re all here for the consumers. If you’re going to create rules that don’t benefit the consumers but somehow you think benefit your enterprise, you’re mistaken. Consumers will go elsewhere. You have to pay attention to what the consumer wants.”
Microsoft is already in the process of building its own cloud streaming service, according to reports that emerged from E3 2018, while Electronic Arts is also hoping to launch a similar model around 2020, GameSpot alleges. Sony’s PlayStation Now already acts as its streaming model, but Nintendo appears to have no plans for such a service yet on the Switch.
