Microsoft's initial shift to a multi-platform strategy for Xbox caused huge controversy among the console gamer community. However, now, Sony has quietly embarked on the same path. For example, Sony has announced that its first-party games will launch PC port versions about 6 months after release.
What’s even more surprising is that in order to promote its multi-platform strategy, Sony has even begun to recommend that users purchase versions of its games on competing platforms. Some players discovered that the official PlayStation page of "Bad Boys 2" now directs players to purchase the Xbox version of the game, a move that shocked many unprepared users.
Although Sony has been more conservative in its multi-platform strategy, many recent moves indicate that the company is following Microsoft's lead in pushing its exclusive game lineup to other platforms, including Xbox.
One of the key reasons for the dissatisfaction of Sony users is that the PlayStation page even directly provides a purchase link for "Bad Soldiers 2" on the official Xbox store. This aggressive cross-platform promotion also confirms the fact that the era of the "console wars" as we know it is well and truly over. Today, Xbox and PlayStation are no longer obsessed with maintaining the loyalty of a small core group of players, but are starting to promote each other to reach a wider user base.
In the past, Sony has been more cautious in public about its multi-platform strategy in an effort to appease fans, but it appears to be moving away from that conservative stance as time goes on. This development also indicates that more of Sony's games are likely to adopt similar promotion methods when they are launched on other platforms (such as Xbox) in the future.
What do you think of this? Do you like the current publicity strategies of major manufacturers? Welcome to discuss in the comment area.