XFire is Sony's Answer to Xbox Live

1up is reporting on Sony's 'answer' to Microsoft's Xbox Live system: XFire. The PC-based game networking service is already extremely popular among FPS and MMOG players. Financial reports indicate the service will now be extended to the PlayStation 3 as well. From the article: "By incorporating an existing service into their own PlayStation Network Platform (PNP), Sony hopes to circumvent existing problems in the console space that Microsoft has had to sort out and in using Xfire -- a company with an established messaging, matchmaking and gaming client -- Sony hopes to narrow the four-year gap in online gaming services that Microsoft currently enjoys (Xfire has been around since 2002)."

Innovation!

[The Dalex]

Is Sony incapable of creating their own? I use Xfire and it's pretty good, but I was very interested in seeing what Sony would do in response to Xbox Live. I didn't expect them to outsource their system (look what happened with the rootkits). Maybe it's a way to avoid liability issues...

Re:as if...

[rabbot]

I wouldn't put too much faith in GTA and FF carrying Sony, especially now that GTA isn't going to be PS3 only...both franchises have been going downhill in my mind.

But then again i'm weird and still live in the 80s and 90s. I don't like the direction Final Fantasy has been heading since VII, and I would rather play GTA 2 (top down), than play any of the new 3D ones.

Only time will tell.

Foreign Entanglements

[ClamIAm]

So Xfire is not owned by Sony, right? This is interesting because there is the very real possibility of this deal entangling Sony with a foreign entity[1]. We saw this during the last console cycle when Microsoft and Nvidia disagreed on chip pricing.

Worse, if the relationship goes sour, several bad things would happen. Depending on how the online service is implemented, old games could stop working. Players might also be forced to sign up for a new service, and hassling with learning how to use it and setting everything up again. Or Sony could go with another system for the PS4, leaving gamers with Xfire accounts for PS3 and something else for PS4. Contrast this with Xbox Live, where the whole service is done in-house, and these problems basically do not exist. Of course, you're still locked down to Microsoft, but that's another discussion.

But to me, the most interesting element here is due to Xfire recently being bought by Viacom. Viacom is a very large and powerful media conglomerate. Sony, while more diversified, also owns a lot of media holdings. I wouldn't be surprised if some collusion[2] happens because of this deal. Maybe Sony throws some Paramount trailers up on the PS3 download service, or perhaps PS3s start showing up on Viacom-owned TV networks. This could also be an interesting angle if any disputes arise.

Of course, all my speculation here could turn out to be total BS. Despite Internet forums and "market analysts" predicting PS3 DOOOOM, Sony has a pretty good record so far of being forward-looking when it comes to consoles.

[1] By "foreign" I mean "outside the company".
[2] Collusion is illegal, so they'll call it something like "cross-promotion".