Without stating the obvious, Elden Ring has taken the gaming world by storm, and it’s been such a fantastic success that even people who have never touched a Soulslike game are eager to jump it. It warms my hollow heart. However, one glaring issue has been bugging the heck out of me, and that’s the lack of cross-platform play / cross-play. It’s something that should have been on the minds of Fromsoftware when developing Elden Ring, and it not being included is simply inadequate.
Bad for the developers for not including it and bad for the gamers playing the game right now. Sure, it’s a good thing for the publishers, as they’ll end up getting money from those who will eventually give in to the hype. I’m sure they’re smiling from the heavens in their ivory tower because people will do precisely that; double-dip. Look at me; I’m a prime example. I not only have Elden Ring for the PC, but I also went out and purchased the Elden Ring Collector’s Edition for both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Now, to be fair, I had those on preorder since they were announced. There’s definitely a mountain of money being made, no doubt about this.
But what about the gamers? We’re the ones getting the short end of the stick here. Sure, we’re happy playing Elden Ring, getting our asses handed to us, and doing it with a smile. But what happens if you’re a streamer, YouTuber, or whatever you’re calling these content creators today. Or just a friend who wants to help another friend get through the game? You might be a level 143 Astrologer (Mage) and have every piece of gear in the game, but just on the platform that you’re playing it on. Now, should that friend be on another platform, it may give you pause because you don’t want to go through the grind again. I’ll use myself as an example again. Several friends have picked up Elden Ring on both the PlayStation and Xbox consoles. And guess what? They all want my help. Now, if this were Dark Souls III, I’d have no problem. Leveling up in that game is cake compared to Elden Ring. I could get a decent leveled and geared character together in a few hours.
Except, when I step foot in the Lands Between for either of those consoles, I’m forced to start all over again. Which will take hours to grind enough runs to level up, and then I have to get all that gear again. Just the thought of that is already enough to tell my friends I’m not in the mood. But I don’t. I do it because I’m hopelessly addicted to these sorts of games. I want to help my friends and make new content, and did I say I’m a sucker for these sorts of games? Still, I’m not too fond of the fact that I have to do everything that I’ve already done all over again. It would be much simpler if Fromsoftware had embraced cross-platform play and made it so that we (me) could drop in on any version of the game and at any time. I think it would benefit the game even more, especially if other people could play with their friends and family on different platforms.
Sadly, it’s not just Fromsoftware that’s doing this, and it seems that most bigger Japanese games don’t support cross-platform play. Outside of Elden Ring, we have Capcom with its colossal Monster Hunter and Monster Hunter Rise games. Neither of which supports cross-platform play. That frustrated me with the first game, as I had it on the PlayStation 4. Seeing how the PC version was still a few months away, and I couldn’t wait, I dove headfirst into the game.
When the PC version was released, Capcom was like, “NO! No cross-platform for you,” and I was forced to do it all over again. When Monster Hunter Rise was released for the Switch, I nearly found myself in the same situation. But this time, I held fast and decided not to play it on the Switch. Ironically, I passed on the game for the PC as I remember how Capcom burnt us last time, and I still hadn’t gotten over that. Though we did get ultrawide monitor support for Monster Hunter World, which is another thing Fromsoftware forgot to include in Elden Ring. Thankfully, the PC modding community was on top of that and crafted its own solution to this.
I don’t understand why some developers are against cross-platform play. It’s great for gamers, and it’s the future of gaming. I get it; software makes money, but adding cross-platform play would ensure that more copies would be sold. It’s the same debate that’s been going on for the past couple of years. While some developers have embraced this concept, others are still either looking in from the outside or have wholly made up their minds that they won’t implement cross-platform play.
Which is a bummer for people like me cause I’m not letting my friend down. But damn, does it hurt having to do the same stuff all over again, or possibly twice as many times. For the love of all gaming, please start implementing cross-platform into games like this. Especially for games like this. Our time is valuable, and between my job(s), my family, and my mental health, I can’t keep doing this forever. But I might, because I love the game so much.
