Cross play comes to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ console players

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is the latest title to open up for cross-play, uniting players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Only a year ago, Sony was doubling down on its position, insisting it wasn’t open to cross play because its “way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play” and Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida was making statements intimating we wouldn’t see the feature any time soon.

“On cross-platform, our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play,” Yoshida said at the time. “Fortnite, I believe, partnered with PlayStation 4 is the best experience for users, that’s our belief.”

Now, however, cross-play isn’t available for Fortnite players.

“Cross-Platform Play is finally here, which will allow for our players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to be matched into the same matchmaking pool,” PUBG Corp. said in its patch notes update. “We are thrilled to unify our two console platforms and are looking forward to your feedback on Cross Platform Play.”

Sledgehammer Games’ co-founder Glen Schofield recently joined PUBG Corporation as CEO of Striking Distance, a brand new studio located in San Ramon, California. Striking Distance is an independent development studio wholly owned by PUBG Corporation. The company reported Schofield was building “a world-class development team from the ground up” to create “an original narrative experience within the PUBG universe”. 

“As a company, we have focused on developing and making content available for global audiences through close collaboration with international teams located across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. That vision is taken to the next level as our development and service portfolio expands and diversifies with Glen Schofield and Striking Distance,” said C.H. Kim, CEO at PUBG Corporation. “We are thrilled to welcome Glen to the company. His unique blend of proven leadership and boundless creativity will help us create great synergy.”

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds mobile game, PUGB Mobile, now has 50 million users outside of China, making it not only the world’s most popular mobile game, but – combined with its Chinese audience – its now also the world’s highest-grossing mobile game, too, generating $146 million in revenue just last month alone.

Now boasting more than 400 million downloads, PUBG Mobile had 50 million daily active users in June 2019 – almost double what it had at the end of 2018. Although it is free-to-play, the mobile game sells a number of cosmetic in-app items, chiefly skins and clothing items.

PUBG Mobile launched internationally in March 2018 but after increasing challenges with Chinese governmental regulations regarding the gaming industry, PUBG Mobile – which should have been a huge moneyspinner for Tencent in China – found its in-app purchases blocked. Tencent has now released a clone game called Game for Peace and while it plays in almost exactly the same way, changes to curtail violence and promote patriotism now mean the game can be successfully monetised.