To cross-platform play, or to not cross-platform play – that is the question. Games such as Minecraft and Rocket League are receiving the ability to play amongst different consoles; however, Sony is not very keen on joining in on the idea of inter-console relations. Defending themselves by pointing out the difficulty in guaranteeing users’ safety on non-PlayStation platforms, they’ve decided to keep themselves out of cross-platform play. Microsoft has answered in response to Sony, and thus the great console war rages on.

It was discovered that Minecraft and Rocket League would not only be coming to the Nintendo Switch but would be cross-platform play titles as well. Minecraft being available on Android/ iOS, Nintendo Switch, VR devices, and Windows 10, while Rocket League will support play on PC, Xbox One, and Switch. The question here becomes – is it safe? It’s understandable to want to keep players protected, but Sony’s claim that their players would be at risk is a little farfetched. Microsoft seems to have taken offense at the thought that they are not protecting the players in a cross-platform environment. During an a recent interview, Xboss Phil Spencer rejected the idea, claiming that the fact somebody would make the kind of assertion that Microsoft isn’t keeping their players safe is not healthy for anyone.

It’s clear that Microsoft is taking Sony’s claims as a direct comment at them. While it may have nothing to do with Microsoft, but rather cross-play in general, it does come across as silly that so many companies would take a chance with not one but multiple cross-platform games if they were unsafe. Spencer explained further that they take safety with all their titles very seriously:

We take the safety of Xbox Live, of our players across all of our games — inside of Minecraft, obviously an incredibly important part of that — it’s incredibly important to our team, We would never put Minecraft in a place where we felt like […] we weren’t keeping our players safe.”

While things come across as heated for now, Microsoft is still open to the idea of Xbox One/ PlayStation 4 cross-play experiences. Even if there isn’t any talk happening at the moment, the future will be constantly changing – perhaps Sony’s stance on the subject will change as well. Give us your thoughts on cross-platform play in the comments section below. As always, don’t forget to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter for 24/7 coverage of all things gaming and entertainment.