Wargroove comes to PlayStation 4 — without cross-play

Wargroove comes to PlayStation 4 on Tuesday, July 23, but the strategy game won’t be offering cross-platform play, as its Nintendo Switch, Windows PC and Xbox One versions do.

Developer Chucklefish made the announcement on Thursday, noting that cross-platform play couldn’t make it in the goal of feature parity with Wargroove’s other versions. No explanation was given, but Chucklefish stressed that PS4 players can still download any of the community-made map designs, regardless of where they originated, and upload their own maps and campaigns to be shared with other platforms as well as the PS4.

Game Informer noted that, around the time Wargroove launched in February, Chucklefish chief executive Finn Brice said on ResetEra that “We were told in no uncertain terms [by Sony] that [cross-platform play] was not going to happen.” This despite being able to “literally toggle a switch and have it working,” he said at the time.

Sony Interactive Entertainment had been famously resistant to cross-platform play, finally relenting for megahit Fortnite last fall, followed by similarly popular Rocket League in January. But as Wargroove demonstrates, it’s not a comprehensive change; Gearbox Software this past week said cross-play won’t be available for Borderlands 3 at launch this September, though the studio was committed to making that possible sometime later.

Chucklefish said Wargroove on PS4 will have all of the content present in its other versions (aside from cross-platform play), including a story campaign estimated at 20 hours and an arcade mode where players have quicker battles against their opponents. Blitworks, who worked on the Xbox One port, developed this one for PlayStation 4, Chucklefish said.