Untold Legends gets Xfired
Online service debuts on the PlayStation 3 with the latest installment in Sony Online Entertainment's adventure series; Xfire for the Wii in the works?
In August, Viacom brass let slip that the conglomerate's latest acquisition, the PC gaming service Xfire, was working on a version of its utilities that would run on the PlayStation 3. A Sony Online Entertainment rep later pegged Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom as the first PS3 game to make use of the service but offered no details about how exactly the launch game would implement Xfire.
Today Xfire confirmed that some of its features would be implemented into Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, and it spilled the beans on exactly how it would work with Sony's new platform. What's more, the company is licensing its own software development kit for publishers who want to incorporate Xfire features into their PS3 games.
Xfire CEO Mike Cassidy told GameSpot that his company will be providing cross-platform text chat and friends-list features for the game, allowing Dark Kingdom players to see and talk with Xfire-equipped buddies on the PC and PS3. Cassidy said that support for more Xfire features will be added to Dark Kingdom later and that the goal was to have all of them up and running on PS3 games in the future. He said that currently there are "less than 10" PS3 games set to integrate Xfire features.
Although Xfire is an advertising-supported service, Cassidy said PS3 gamers won't be subjected to sales pitches. Despite the lack of ad revenue in the company's presence on Sony's console, Cassidy painted it as a win-win, where Sony Online gets 5 million-plus Xfire users that might see all their friends playing Dark Kingdom online and become interested in it, and Xfire gets an influx of new subscribers, who will be advertised to if and when they decide to use the service on their PCs.
Cassidy said the company's move into the console realm is something its publishing partners and customers have been asking for, and the company has further designs for gaming in the living room.
"We are in talks with one other console maker," Cassidy said, a likely reference to Nintendo, which is set to launch the Wii in the US two days after Sony releases the PS3. The only other console maker of note, Microsoft, has built its own Xbox Live service from the ground up and has announced its own cross-platform plans to integrate it with cell phones and PCs with Live Anywhere.
It bears noting that gamers won't necessarily need to sign up for Xfire to play Dark Kingdom online or chat with other gamers. Sony Online Entertainment producer Andy Sites described it as an "optional service."
"We support the PlayStation Network friends, matchmaking, and messaging service, and we've also integrated Xfire," Sites said. "So you can use both, or you can choose to use Xfire, or just the PlayStation Network. We've integrated them so they work well together."
As for how easily the Xfire service works with the PS3, both camps agreed that everything came together well. Sites said his team implemented the Xfire features themselves with "minimal support" from Cassidy's crew and called it "very easy to integrate."
"It's not technically hard to do," Cassidy said. "We did the whole Dark Kingdom thing in about three and a half weeks, but it was a race. ... The Sony Online engineers worked like crazy and we worked like crazy, but we were able to pull it off."
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Mass Effect 2 Interview: Adrian Askarieh
EA producer discusses the latest revelations about BioWare's upcoming sci-fi role-playing game. Full Story
- Posted Nov 10, 2009 11:17 am PT
-
Visually impaired gamer sues Sony Online
Refusal to implement or facilitate changes to make online games more accessible violates Americans with Disabilities Act, suit claims. Full Story
- Posted Nov 6, 2009 3:48 pm PT
- 1217 Comments
Featured Stories
-
Modern Warfare 2 sells 4.7 million in 24 hours
Activision and Infinity Ward's shooter claims largest entertainment launch crown with $310 million in UK, US, and Canadian sales; North American day-one sales hit 3.38 million. Full Story
- Posted Nov 12, 2009 11:02 am PT
- 269 Comments
-
C&C4: Tiberian Twilight falls in March
Final installment of the Tiberium saga heading to PC on March 16 in North America, March 19 in Europe; preorder incentives include exclusive bonus mission and early access to beta program. Full Story
- Posted Nov 12, 2009 8:14 am PT
- 36 Comments
-
Prince of Persia film could generate $2.7 billion-plus - Ubisoft
CEO Yves Guillemot and Jake Gyllenhaal-led action film franchise may generate more than Pirates of the Caribbean; French publisher investing more in game development. Full Story
- Posted Nov 12, 2009 1:37 pm PT
- 106 Comments
-
Xbox Live purged of up to 1 million users - Report
Information Week estimates Microsoft may have suspended 5% of service's subscribers for using modded Xbox 360s--which are now flooding Craigslist. Full Story
- Posted Nov 11, 2009 2:31 pm PT
- 452 Comments
-
Natal release date, price leaked?
British reports peg the Xbox 360's motion-sensing peripheral as launching next November at an artificially low £50 (approx. $83) price point; 5 million-unit initial shipment expected. Full Story
- Posted Nov 11, 2009 11:31 am PT
Submit News
Related Game
- Sony Online Entertainment
- Action Role-Playing
- Release: Nov 13, 2006 »
- ESRB: Teen
Related Games
Recent News
-
Final Fantasy XIII due March 9
Square Enix's latest J-RPG headed to North America and Europe in early 2010, Leona Lewis' "My Hands" named as theme song; new trailer inside.
97 Comments
Sign in / Sign up