‘The Buzz’ about Xbox and Nintendo’s ‘ambitious crossover’ and Sony’s ‘Fortnite’ bundle

The Buzz is a weekly roundup of what the industry is saying on social media about the various goings-on.

The biggest piece of news this week was the “ambitious crossover event” that Xbox and Nintendo pulled off for the launch of the “Better Together” update for Minecraft. The “Better Together” update allows players on Windows, mobile devices, Xbox, and Switch to play in the same Minecraft server together. 

Hey @Xbox, since we can play together in @Minecraft now, did you want to build something? pic.twitter.com/LIylWy3yXZ

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 21, 2018

Well since you two seem so lovey-dovey now, why not try building something like this? Have fun! pic.twitter.com/4wMD1FpDA9

— Minecraft (@Minecraft) June 21, 2018

The media weighed in about what the implications of this collapse of the “console wars” between Xbox and Nintendo 

Those of us that participated in the original playground console wars (Nintendo vs. Sega) remember how HUGE it was when Sonic and Mario starred in the same games.

This? This is WAY bigger, with potential to shift the way the industry works at DNA level. https://t.co/kBJMIOA5oX

— Mike Futter (@Futterish) June 21, 2018

The branding on this, plus some rumors passing around during E3, have me super curious about future Xbox/Nintendo collabos https://t.co/xRyzSCc2wL

— austin walker (@austin_walker) June 21, 2018

Twitter wasn’t feeling particular generous towards Sony, especially after the ongoing Fortnite debacle.

Sony must be feeling blue as Nintendo boasts Switch/Xbox One cross-play https://t.co/eU4WaPLZlz pic.twitter.com/haPuBFZ1fC

— GameSpot (@gamespot) June 21, 2018

“Fortnite, Minecraft, and Rocket League all have crossplay capabilities between Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PC”. pic.twitter.com/odHW9n0ynu

— Ali | Smash Ultimate – 12/7/18 (@AliToThePast) June 21, 2018

But this new Fortnite bundle should make up for the fact that there’s no cross-play, though, right? Maybe? 

Sony is releasing a Fortnite PS4 bundle that comes with a number of exclusive items.

– Exclusive PS4 Skin
– Exclusive V-Bucks pack (500)
– Exclusively no cross play with XB1/Switch pic.twitter.com/PwyzNKGkaI

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) June 22, 2018

Nah, not really.

The whole PS4 Fortnite account locking thing is super disappointing towards the PlayStation players. There’s not a single angle from which this whole thing looks good for SONY. I barely play Fortnite, but I sure hope it gets fixed – not for Fortnite, but for the PS4 brand.

— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) June 19, 2018

It’s not as though Minecraft is the first game to say “hey, let’s hang out and play nicely with other platforms,” but it is certainly one of the most prominent, right behind the cultural phenomenon of Fortnite. In actuality, it likely will do nothing to move the needle on Sony’s “give a damn” meter, because they hold the biggest piece of the console marketplace. They can afford to shrug their shoulders and not do much to change things. But if we’re truly heading towards a cloud-based gaming world in the future, we’ve likely only got one more console lifecycle ahead of us. Sony may not want to play nicely with others (and nor do they have to), but even their incredible exclusives can’t insulate them forever.