Xfire has confirmed that its online community platform will be used in the upcoming PS3 title, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom—the first of “multiple†PS3 games that will use the application. Full interview with Xfire CEO Mike Cassidy within…
For the uninitiated, Xfire software in its current form is a free PC download that features friends lists, instant messaging and other convenient community features for PC gaming. Xfire officially announced today that it is taking its first steps into the console gaming world via Sony’s PS3.
Xfire, which media giant Viacom acquired in April for $102 million, actually has two new PS3-related deals. One agreement is with Sony Online Entertainment, the developer of Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, which will integrate Xfire into its game. The other is a tools and middleware development and license agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment, which will have Xfire creating an SDK for developers that will allow for Xfire implementation for future PS3 games (see PS3 interface mockup below, provided by Xfire). The technology will allow PS3 and PC Xfire users to chat across their respective platforms.
Hints of PS3 implementation of Xfire surfaced earlier this year, when Viacom mentioned in passing a deal between Xfire and Sony regarding the PS3.
So what other PS3 games will incorporate Xfire, and why is Sony opting to outsource the development of certain community features for its upcoming PlayStation Network Platform? Next-Gen asks Xfire CEO Mike Cassidy.
Next-Gen: First of all, a lot of gamers are wondering if this Xfire deal will extend beyond SOE and Dark Kingdom…
Mike Cassidy: There are two deals here, really. There’s one deal between us and SOE, and there’s one deal between us and Sony Computer Entertainment. The deal with SCE is a tools and middleware license that lets us basically build a plug-in for any PS3 game. Then we need to work with the publishers, and the publishers use that middleware to enable Xfire functionality in their games.
The deal with Sony Online is sort of the first deal we’re doing with a publisher. It just so happens that Sony Online has the same name as Sony Computer Entertainment. It could’ve been another publisher, but they’re two different deals.
So the jist of it is that the SOE deal is the first of other deals that will inevitably appear for PS3 games.
Correct.
As far as the Xfire SDK, is that available to any developers yet? Can you say who else has shown interest in utilizing Xfire?
There are multiple PS3 games that will have Xfire in them. Unfortunately, I can’t say which ones they are yet. … There are some other good titles that will have Xfire in them.
Aside from Xfire being so popular and increasingly established, why is Sony Computer Entertainment going outside to provide online community features for PS3 games?
Xfire is not replacing SCE’s PlayStation Network Platform at all. They have their own network platform that they will describe and roll out. What we’re doing is complementary. Sony itself was interested in working with us because we have such a large PC community and since so many PC gamers also play console games—I think for us, 74 percent of our 5 million users play console games too—they use it as a nice segue to reach into the gamers of the PC world who already have PC Xfire accounts.
…I think what we’re doing is providing some features and what they’re doing is providing some features that we don’t do at all. We don’t do paid digital downloads and we don’t do a lot of things like that. There are also some publishers that have no interest in the Xfire solution, which is fine. But there are some publishers that are like, “Great. We want to plug into the 5 million-user Xfire community.†We will work with Sony's PlayStation Network Platform…
Yes, but are you providing something that the PlayStation Network Platform alone doesn’t necessarily provide?
We’re providing the link to the Xfire community. Let’s say that someone started playing Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom when it launches in November. Everyone in the 5 million-user Xfire network will be able to see that person playing Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom. That’s sort of different than what Sony’s PlayStation Network Platform is doing.
It’s also great for driving game sales. 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.†…
The other thing is chat. Linking into the Xfire network, players inside Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom will be able to chat with other Xfire users, so that’s kind of cool. Sometimes when you’re in a game, you kind of shut off. Your friend is like, “I tried to reach you last night," and you’re like, “Oh, I was playing World of Warcraft for three hours. Sorry man.†This way you can message right into the game and say “We’re going into this map here,†or “We’ve got a nice two-on-two game over here.â€
How exactly is Xfire integrated into Dark Kingdom?
It’s sort of built into the game. So from inside the game, it’ll ask what your Xfire user name is, and you’ll type it in. Anytime you start playing Dark Kingdom, it’ll show up on your friend’s Xfire clients. From inside the game, if you do a text chat out, that text message will go out to your Xfire network, and it will come into the game too. If one of your Xfire friends is messaging you, it’ll come into the game, and reach you in-game.
