Looks like PC Counter Strike: Global Offensive players might not get to square off with their PS3 counterparts after all. While developer Valve has talked repeatedly about wanting to enable cross-platform play in the upcoming shooter, a recent interview with Voodoo Extreme saw Chet Faliszek taking a rather noticeable step backwards from that claim.
"Yeah – we’ve talked about wanting to do cross-platform play, but if we do that, it limits our ability to update on the PC because it has to be in lock-step with the PS3," Faliszek said. "Even with Steamworks on PS3, we don’t have the same ability to update. Because of that, we may or may not do cross-platform play, maybe cross-platform will come later – we’ll see. But we don’t want to hamstring the PC because we want the cross-platform."
In the same interview, Faliszek also mentioned that the free DLC pack for Valve's Portal 2, a game that does support cross-platform play, had already missed its intended release date. It's entirely possible that the delay might be due to some complications with updating the PS3 version, and that difficulty has caused Valve to reconsider their approach to CS:GO. Then again, it's just as likely that they're hedging their bets in an attempt to get the game out on time.
If cross-platform play does come through, it will be limited PlayStation 3, PC, and Mac. While Valve remains optimistic about the chance to get Steam supported on the 360, Microsoft hasn't okayed the change as of yet.
Counter Strike: Gobal Offensive is slated to launch on the PC, XBLA, and PSN sometime in early 2012.
