SOE Warms Up to Xfire
Just so you, John Q. Gamer, can track and chat it up with your friends while rocking the online play of Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom.
Published: October 11, 2006
Since the very beginning, Sony has made bold claims of the PlayStation 3’s online service, moreover, one that would rival the likes of Xbox Live (though they refuse to acknowledge any competition in this industry, as Ken Kutagari will tell you). The service – dubbed the PlayStation Network Platform – has been drummed up to offer a wealth of community and commerce features, including video and voice chat, scores and leaderboards, downlodable content, subscriptions and so forth, all said to initially come gratis.
While the specifics are still fuzzy on exactly what possible clients will play a role in the PNP plan, that’s not stopping Sony Online Entertainment (whose been co-developing the service all along) from taking some initiative of its own in offering up basic online community services for its very own launch title, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom.
With the help of Xfire, the online community (recently scooped up by Viacom) currently running on a base of five million users, SOE plans to utilize the service’s functionality to allow players to track when their buddies are playing Dark Kingdom online, as well as chat with Xfire players on both PC and PlayStation 3. Neat, huh?
“Many of our PC game players already use Xfire to find and play with their friends online,” explains John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment. “By integrating Xfire features into our games we are able to strengthen our online community, making it even easier for our players to remain connected, whether they’re on a PC or a PlayStation 3.”
Dark Kingdom, of course, is SOE’s stab at a next-gen action RPG done ri.. well, done. As one of three unique characters, players must embark on a perilous journey to usurp a tyrannical king whose oppressive rule has come with the cost of peace in the kingdom of Dureth. If our first look of the game from long ago is any help, heck, go crazy and peep that thing into next week.
“The opportunity to work with the PlayStation 3 is tremendous,” blushed Mike Cassidy, CEO of Xfire. “Many Xfire gamers and game publishers have been asking us about a version of Xfire for console play for some time now. Working with SOE on one of their highly anticipated PlayStation 3 launch titles is a very exciting beginning for Xfire’s new console game product.”
Xfire also managed to squeeze in a little announcement of its own, confirming that it has gotten its hands on the PlayStation 3’s Tools and Middleware Development and License Agreement, allowing it to craft a software developer kit (or SDK, if you’ve tech-savvy like that) for fellow PS3 developers. Remember that five million plus crowd that Xfire already has backing its PC service? A confirmed feature will allow them to see whenever a PlayStation 3 user fires up a game using that Xfire SDK. Online stalking ahoy!
We’ll be sure to clear up the dust on the PS3’s launch-related details (like, maybe what games we’ll see come day one) as the deets pour in. Keep ‘er here!
While the specifics are still fuzzy on exactly what possible clients will play a role in the PNP plan, that’s not stopping Sony Online Entertainment (whose been co-developing the service all along) from taking some initiative of its own in offering up basic online community services for its very own launch title, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom.
With the help of Xfire, the online community (recently scooped up by Viacom) currently running on a base of five million users, SOE plans to utilize the service’s functionality to allow players to track when their buddies are playing Dark Kingdom online, as well as chat with Xfire players on both PC and PlayStation 3. Neat, huh?
“Many of our PC game players already use Xfire to find and play with their friends online,” explains John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment. “By integrating Xfire features into our games we are able to strengthen our online community, making it even easier for our players to remain connected, whether they’re on a PC or a PlayStation 3.”
Dark Kingdom, of course, is SOE’s stab at a next-gen action RPG done ri.. well, done. As one of three unique characters, players must embark on a perilous journey to usurp a tyrannical king whose oppressive rule has come with the cost of peace in the kingdom of Dureth. If our first look of the game from long ago is any help, heck, go crazy and peep that thing into next week.
“The opportunity to work with the PlayStation 3 is tremendous,” blushed Mike Cassidy, CEO of Xfire. “Many Xfire gamers and game publishers have been asking us about a version of Xfire for console play for some time now. Working with SOE on one of their highly anticipated PlayStation 3 launch titles is a very exciting beginning for Xfire’s new console game product.”
Xfire also managed to squeeze in a little announcement of its own, confirming that it has gotten its hands on the PlayStation 3’s Tools and Middleware Development and License Agreement, allowing it to craft a software developer kit (or SDK, if you’ve tech-savvy like that) for fellow PS3 developers. Remember that five million plus crowd that Xfire already has backing its PC service? A confirmed feature will allow them to see whenever a PlayStation 3 user fires up a game using that Xfire SDK. Online stalking ahoy!
We’ll be sure to clear up the dust on the PS3’s launch-related details (like, maybe what games we’ll see come day one) as the deets pour in. Keep ‘er here!