For more than 18 years, Nintendo and Microsoft have been in a heated battle on who’s better than the other in the gaming scene.
While Sony has always maintained its reputation for holding top-quality games and unprecedented PlayStation features, there is one thing the company lacks that both Nintendo and Microsoft have – mutualism.
That’s right, the reason why both companies have a very close relationship to one another is that, these days, they support each other in a way that makes gamers have warm hearts to see big competitors helping out each other while Sony is on a mountain screaming in pride.
Where’d the Mutualism Start?
It all started in a game that everyone is familiar with – Mohjang’s very own Minecraft. Remember back in 2014 when Microsoft has “owned” the game?
It was at this very moment they realized it could be much better if they sold it in various platforms not just on the PC and Xbox. Instead, it released on every major platform – including iOS and Android.
Obviously, they had a financial success but they wanted to go even further beyond; Microsoft negotiated with Nintendo and in 2018, both companies announced that they will support cross-platform Minecraft for both the Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch.
This move made so many players smile with full glee, showing the gaming community that they too find even their biggest competitors as the grandest allies. But this was just the beginning of something better.
Xbox on the Switch? Switch on the Xbox?
In a 2019 announcement that no one saw coming, Microsoft said that they will implement Xbox Live on the Nintendo Switch. Why? Because Microsoft wanted to spread their access to a bigger crowd. Ever since the whole cross-platform fiasco of Fortnite and Rocket League, Microsoft thought, “Hey, why don’t we cross-platform the Xbox Live exclusive features too?”
And so, here we are, playing Gears of War POP on Switch while on a bus. The next thing we’ll see is four buddies playing Halo Infinite in the park using the Switch and that’s not far from happening.
However, this wasn’t the first time they cross-platformed Xbox Live. A few years ago, it debuted on the Windows 10. All you really needed was an internet connection, sign into your account and you’re ready to either stream your game from the Xbox One or play exclusive Xbox Live games on PC. It does have some flaws such as leaving behind a truckload of cache but there’s nothing the CCleaner can’t fix.
Xbox Live will also soon be available on iOS and Android soon; who knows what they’ll bring there. We do miss Geometry Dash though.
No word about Nintendo Switch Online on the Xbox One yet but we can smell it coming. It would be cool to play classic Kirby games or even Nintendogs there.
Will They Ever Cross-Platform with Sony?
Sony’s a bit of a knucklehead when it comes to mutualism. Remember back in mid-2018 when they didn’t want to cross with every gaming platform for Fortnite? Yes, that caused a lot of stir and eventually, they caved into the merge just so the gaming community doesn’t see them as frontline snubs.
But that still doesn’t mean they’ll join the alliance soon. Sony has this tendency of spurting out “We got the best exclusives and you can’t have them” to every major console and to the PC. In fact, they start to look like jerks now especially with their latest censorship that sparked anger from their own fanbase.
Seeing Mario fighting alongside Kratos or Master Chief shooting hordes of enemies with Nathan Drake are all just a far-fetched dream.
What does this Mean for Gaming?
If Microsoft and Nintendo can show everyone that they can combine their might in order to further strengthen together, then this could bring peace between the console wars. Not only is this a huge deal for the gaming industry but for other business categories as well.
