Peering Into Sony's Online Plans

Details on how Xfire is bringing its community to the PlayStation 3.

One of the biggest unknowns still hovering over the PlayStation 3 is how its online component is going to work. A report earlier this year hinted at PC service Xfire being tapped to plug that hole, but Sony was quick to deny that it was being used as a global online platform on the console. Now the company behind Xfire has confirmed that several companies are using its technology to power their online presence.

Essentially, Xfire takes care of all the community aspects of online play. It's already available for free on PC, where it handles messaging and friends lists - in something reminiscent of the social components of Xbox Live.

Mike Cassidy, the head man at Xfire, told Next Generation that not only will the company's technology be incorporated into Sony Online Entertainment's PlayStation 3 hack-n-slash Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, but it has also signed a second, broader deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to make the technology available as a tool for developers who want to include it in their games.

SOE is the first company to confirm that it is using Xfire's technology, but it's not the last, Cassidy told Next Generation:

"There are multiple PS3 games that will have Xfire in them. Unfortunately, I can't say which ones they are yet." He added: "There are some other good titles that will have Xfire in them."

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

Cassidy describes Xfire as a complementary feature to Sony's own PlayStation Network Platform rather than a replacement for it. Companies will be able to choose whether to incorporate Xfire's community-slanted features, which allow it to tap into the 5 million PC users already out there, providing powerful word-of-mouth exposure.

"It's also great for driving game sales," he said. "The number one way to drive game sales is if your friend's playing a game. ... More people see a bunch of people playing Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, and they say, 'Wow, I want to check it out.'"

Sony's own PlayStation Network Platform can perform all these community features as well, SOE's Andy Sites told Next Generation in a separate interview, but SOE decided to go with Xfire because of the company's vast presence in the PC space.

Far from being intrusive, Sites said, Xfire's technology has been seamlessly integrated, so that when you open your PlayStation Network chat service, people on your Xfire friends list will be there alongside your PlayStation Network friends.

"Our goal with integrating Xfire into Dark Kingdom, was to allow all members of the Sony Online gaming family to communicate with one another," Sites said, "regardless of which gaming platform they happened to be playing an SOE title on, PlayStation 3 or PC."

Though all parties have now come clean on Xfire and how it will work alongside the PlayStation Network Platform, there are still gaps in Sony's online strategy that remain. To answer those, we turn to next week's Sony press event, where rumour has it the final beans will be spilled.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo