Rocket League In Line For Xbox One Cross-Network Play

Microsoft have announced a new cross-network feature that'll be championed by Psyonix's cage-ball-goal 'em up Rocket League [official site] in the coming months. Although at the discretion of developers, the new initiative means, in theory, Xbox Live users will be able join other players in the same games but on different networks, such as, say, PSN or Steam.

In a statement released on Xbox Wire, Chris Charla, the director of ID@Xbox, described the cross-network move as a continuation of the already existing cross-platform play enabled between Xbox One and Windows 10. He said:

"In addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live, we’re enabling developers to support cross-network play as well. This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.

"Of course, it’s up to game developers to support this feature, and Xbox Live players will always have the option of choosing to play only with other Xbox Live players. We’re thrilled to confirm that Psyonix’s Rocket League will be one of the first games to take advantage of this new capability by enabling cross-network play between Xbox One and PC players, with an open invitation for other networks to participate as well."

Psyonix's Jeremy Dunham followed Microsoft's announcement by citing cross-network play as "the number-one most requested feature" that's been touted by the Rocket League community since launch last year, and also noted that players can expect to see the feature in motion on Xbox One and PC "later this spring."

For now, Rocket League is the only game that's been officially announced to support Microsoft's cross-network feature, but what other games would you be keen to see step forward?