The survival MMO H1Z1 is to be developed first for PC and later for PlayStation 4. Players on different platforms will end up on different servers.
In an interview with joystiq.com, H1Z1 designer Jimmy Whisenhunt explained the plans for the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of H1Z1. He admitted that H1Z1 is currently not playable on PlayStation 4. The development of the game for PlayStation 4 will only begin once the PC version is in a stable condition. The H1Z1 team also makes the release of the game in Early Access dependent on this stable condition.
Every PC hotfix should also come immediately for PlayStation 4
Whisenhunt considers it pretty unlikely that PlayStation players will meet PC players on cross-platform servers. This is partly due to the frequency of updates. If the team wants to quickly bring a fix for PC, they would also have to do it immediately for PlayStation 4. Two versions of the game could not run on the same server.
Perhaps the cross-platform method will come later, but for the start, they are developing H1Z1 separately with different servers in mind.
Would PC players have an advantage over PlayStation 4 players thanks to mouse and keyboard?
“Also, there’s the issue of keyboard/mouse versus controller,” Whisenhunt said.
This is a debate that always takes place with cross-platform ideas. It revolves around whether players with the combination of keyboard and mouse have advantages due to more precise control compared to their console competitors. Especially in a game like H1Z1, which heavily relies on PvP and confrontation, this is a sensitive topic. However, Whisenhunt does not mention which controls he sees as advantageous. Typically, the mouse/keyboard combo is considered preferred.
On the sidelines of SOE Live, it became known that the delayed port of H1Z1 to PlayStation 4 is also related to the fact that SOE is waiting for the Team behind Planetside 2 to resolve the technical issues of the port. Both Planetside 2 and H1Z1 use the Forgelight engine, and they would benefit from the “in-house” know-how. Planetside 2 is currently being ported to PlayStation 4 anyway.
Those interested in H1Z1 can find more about the survival MMO and DayZ competitor on our topic page.
