Xbox boss wants 64-player parties

The logistics are tough though

The Director of Programming for Xbox, Mike Ybarra, wants bigger party sizes. Speaking to Game Informer, Ybarra notes that although the current limit is 12, he wants to go much higher, starting with an upcoming update that will raise that cap to 16. When asked about raising it further, he stated, “I’d love to get that to 64 because that’ll get Battlefield and games like that which do 64 vs. 64…have at it! Now, I don’t want to be in a party of 64, but that’s a different problem!”

The reason for this extended count, even though a lot of Xbox games don’t necessarily go that high? Because of parity with the Xbox app, which can be used by PC gamers. Ybarra is looking outside of the [x]box, and uses the example of playing World of Warcraft, with raids facilitated through the Xbox app. As Game Informer points out, the PS4 is still limited to parties of eight.

This is a great idea overall, and could be part of Microsoft’s big plan if they shift to cross-platform play successfully. With many publishers saying for years that Microsoft’s closed policies were a big holdup for MMO ports and the like, there could be a nice future ahead for the publisher.

Xbox’s Director Of Programming Wants 64-Player Parties For Battlefield, MMO Raids [Game Informer]