It looks like gaming is finally approaching an age of glorious cross-platform play. Platforms will always have exclusives, but it looks as if we’re close to a stage in which you’ll be able to turn on your Xbox cross platform games and party up with friends on PC and PlayStation alike. It may not look exactly how we anticipated, and the features may not even mature during this generation of consoles, but we have good reason to believe the walls are coming down soon. Here is a look at the road that brought us here, and where we think it goes.

A Brief History of Modern Cross-Platform Play

While many think of Xbox and PC compatibility as groundbreaking, Sony actually first conducted this grand experiment back in 2002. Final Fantasy 11 allowed PS2 and PC players to play in the same shared world, provided they were willing to pay an extra subscription fee. Although the game also appeared on the Xbox 360, Xbox players did not get the same cross-platform deal. Xbox has remained off the cross network train with later MMORPGs like Neverwinter and The Elder Scrolls Online. When asked about new cross-platform initiatives, Sony executives point back to this early feat and say they remain open to the idea.

Desktop computers went through their own growth spurts for cross-platform purposes. With the rise of services like Steam, developers gained new opportunities to have the hard part done for them. Devs using the Steamworks API gained easy cross-play between Windows and OS X in 2010, with Linux joining the fray in 2013.

New Cross-Platform Adventures

Much of the current cross-platform narrative is driven by Microsoft’s Play Anywhere initiative, with which customers can buy certain Xbox One games and get a free digital copy for Windows 10, or vice versa. MS is promising keyboard and mouse support in the near future to alleviate concerns about unfair advantages for PC players using that input method—this has been the number one complaint in previous experiments.

Save for a brief “configuration issue” involving Fortnite, Sony has not allowed xbox playstation cross platform play with its player base. Rocket League developer Psyonix has made it clear that its hit game supports cross-platform play right this instant, and could go live around the world in less than an hour if Sony didn’t carefully prevent it. So, while executives praise themselves for open-mindedness about a PS4 cross platform future, the truth seems more complicated.

Nintendo Switch, surprisingly, will soon support a limited number of cross-platform games. A Minecraft cross platform gaming update is anticipated this winter.

One Future for Players?

While the prospect of multi-platform games is exciting, we don’t know exactly how it will impact the business side of the industry. Games should be significantly more successful with less fear of a small online player base if those players can come from a number of gaming systems. It’s hard to speculate on the impact it might have on actual console sales. Sony is clearly expecting it to hurt, or at least they expect not supporting cross-platform play to help. Sony is in a unique position as the leader in the console clubhouse, and perhaps it makes sense to try to keep players apart for the time being.

Meanwhile, the Xbox/PC divide, at least as it pertains to Windows 10 and up, gets narrower every day. It’s not impossible to imagine a world where Microsoft tries moving its players to PC entirely, leaving the dedicated console market behind.

Nintendo, finally, has shown real growth and increased flexibility in allowing some cross-platform play. It’s a notoriously uncooperative company that wants complete control over every aspect of its experience, a trait it developed back when it was the king of the hill. With continued adaptability, the company should at least continue to be a major player for many years.

The sad truth is, we haven’t reached the finish line—we may only be entering the Wild West phase. Expect all manufacturers to stay timid on this emerging way to play, and expect more bumps in the road. When we do finally reach a day when cross platform play is a way of life, however, expect a big surge in the health of the industry. We, the players, will win.

Sound off: What’s a game that’s just dying to go cross-platform?