The war between the current-generation consoles shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. This summer, Microsoft announced several new Xbox One features that rolled out to the public during November, two of them ones that Sony has yet to implement in the PlayStation 4.
Microsoft’s backwards compatibility feature lets owners of select Xbox 360 games play them on the Xbox One, a feature Sony has since offered its own version of by confirming the PS4 will be able to emulate PS2 games. The company is now moving to play catch-up to another Xbox One feature, the ability to stream console titles over a home network to any Windows 10 PC in the house.
Sony’s Remote Play already operates in a similar way but only works between the PS4, PlayStation Vita handheld device and PlayStation TV. By adding support for streaming to a PC, Sony can easily build Remote Play into a system to rival Microsoft’s offering. Sony is even going one step further by making the upcoming app cross-platform and available on both Windows and Mac OS X, something Microsoft is unlikely to ever offer.
Polygon reports Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios, confirmed the feature is coming in a tweet today. He wrote: “Some people asked if we plan to provide Remote Play function to PC, and yes, we are indeed working on an official application for PC/Mac. :D”
Such an application has already been created. Yoshida’s comment comes just days after the alpha release of third-party program Remote Play PC, a $10 app capable of streaming PS4 games to the PC. The developer warns it is currently buggy and unstable but it proves the system can work.
Sony hasn’t said when its official PC version of Remote Play will be available but it doesn’t look like it will be coming this year. Microsoft still holds the edge in this area for a while at least while Sony plays catch-up with the new features of the Xbox One New Experience update. Both consoles are flying off shelves today due to record-low retail prices in Black Friday sales.
