Destiny won't feature PS3/PS4 cross-play, and Bungie explains why

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The developer behind the hotly anticipated science-fiction shooter, Destiny, has explained the lack of cross-play functionality between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game.

Speaking during an interview with Digital Trends, Bungie’s Roger Wolfsen explained that the decision boiled down to the perceived advantage of new hardware that gamers tend to share.

“I’ll speak for the hypothetical player. I have a disadvantage sniping across the map because [my opponent with a next-gen console] is only two pixels on my screen and I’m four pixels on his,” said Wolfsen.

“You see that in the world of PC gaming, where people are always racing to the best video card to give themselves the advantage. Regardless of where the reality is, there’s definitely a perception among gamers that better hardware means you have an advantage. We don’t want to have to enter that fray, so to create the best, most level playing field, both actually and perceptually, we separated it by platform.”

One thing that Destiny does support, however, is the ability to transfer your PS3/360 characters over to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game.

This, says Wolfsen, is due to the fact gamers will be able to use their characters from the original Destiny years down the line, when Bungie has pumped out a sequel or two.

“Our goal for Destiny is that each time you play it, you’re going to have a different experience,” he said.

“Not just because of the social interaction, and the fact that you can play with different people, but because your character is growing and will have different ways of playing the same content every time you go back and replay it.”

Furthermore, Bungie wants to ensure that any potential sequels will remain as user friendly as possible.

”Let’s say Destiny 2 [and] Destiny 3 are out, and we have new players joining the fun. [They] want to play those new games alongside those who have been playing Destiny from the beginning,” he said.

“[We want to ensure] they won’t feel like they’re four years behind. And then, if they want to, they’ll be able to go back and pick up the old content on their same character. So we’ve done a lot of planning for how that’s going to work, to not make people feel like they have years worth of levelling up to do.”

Destiny is currently in its beta phase and will remain so until July 26. The game itself is due out on September 9. Read our impressions of the beta here.