Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has outlined a vision for a more connected gaming landscape, advocating for major publishers and platform operators to collaborate on interoperable social and economic systems. In an interview with PC Gamer, Sweeney expressed that the current separation of gaming social ecosystems across platforms like Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam creates unnecessary friction for players seeking to connect with friends across different games and services.
Sweeney's proposed solution, dubbed "Team Open," aims to eliminate this friction by enabling users to maintain a singular identity and communicate with others regardless of the platform they are using. He likened the current situation to the early days of email, where a lack of universal standards prevented communication between different companies, until a common protocol was established. "That's what we need in gaming," Sweeney stated, suggesting that shared text and voice infrastructure across platforms is a foundation for such a system.
This proposition has drawn comparisons to existing services, most notably Discord, which has become a de facto standard for cross-platform communication and community building among gamers. Critics point out that Discord already allows players to connect with friends, join voice chats, and manage communities irrespective of the games they play or the platforms they use.
While Sweeney emphasizes the potential for increased value through connectivity, particularly for cosmetic items like outfits and emotes, his proposal has been met with skepticism. Some interpret his stance as a reaction to Epic Games Store's competitive position, suggesting it as an attempt to leverage industry-wide cooperation when direct market competition has not yielded the desired dominance over platforms like Steam. The suggestion that cosmetic items should function across all games has also been met with comparisons to the resurgence of NFTs, a technology previously associated with speculative markets.
Sweeney also indicated that cooperation should not necessarily involve concessions like making PlayStation-exclusive titles available on PC or bringing back franchises like Gears of War to PlayStation consoles. Instead, his focus remains on enabling shared digital assets and social connections. He believes that the realization of higher collective value through connection is more beneficial than maintaining isolated ecosystems, a sentiment that suggests a broader industry shift away from the monopolistic ambitions of early console wars.