E3 2017: Xbox Exec Wants Cross-Play With PS4, Praises Nintendo

Speaking to GameSpot today at E3, Microsoft's Dave McCarthy discussed cross-play with competing platforms. Specifically, he opened up on why Xbox Live-PSN cross-play might not happen anytime soon, while he also discussed how Nintendo has been a "great partner" in this department.

McCarthy said he's hopeful that Sony will respond to Microsoft's invitation to connect PSN to Xbox Live. At Microsoft's E3 briefing this week, Microsoft announced that Minecraft would support cross-play between Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, but PS4 was nowhere to be seen. McCarthy said conversations are ongoing with Sony, but nothing has come of them so far.

"Nintendo's been a great partner; we respect them on a lot of levels, and it's great to support the Switch early on," McCarthy said. "Quite frankly, we'd love to have Sony there. We discussed it. They're not quite there yet [laughs] on support for that. But my hope is that they join the party as well because I think it's an awesome thing to do for gamers."

Asked for further details on why discussions with Sony have not amounted to anything, McCarthy said that question is better directed at Sony. We'll try to chase this down with Sony this week at E3.

In March 2016, Microsoft publicly announced that it was open to connecting Xbox Live to other gaming networks, including PlayStation Network and Nintendo's own online service. Sony later suggested it was open to this, but it has not happened yet, and it doesn't seem like it will soon.

For lots more on E3 2017, check out GameSpot's roundup of all the big Microsoft news. You can also see a breakdown of all of GameSpot's E3 coverage here.