From
shacknews.com:
Much ado has been made about the potential presence of cross-platform play in Epic Games' upcoming multiplayer-heavy shooter Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3, X360). The most likely compatible platforms have been PC and PlayStation 3, as the Xbox 360 version has taken a development backseat and the PS3's approach to network architecture is more conducive to the kind of freedom Epic would want for such a service. PS3, unlike Xbox 360, also supports mouse and keyboard controls, which would allow for a more potentially level playing field between users of the two platforms.
Still, in an IRC chat conducted yesterday featuring numerous members of Epic's UT3 team, Epic VP Mark Rein finally confirmed that the game will not feature cross-platform multiplayer--at least at launch.
"The biggest challenge in doing cross platform play is syncronizing [sic] the builds such that the build on the PC is 100% compatible with the build on the PS3," said Rein. "Unfortunately (or fortunately) when you [develop] games on console you have a lengthy certification process to go through each time you release anything new."
"We looked at how this would impact our ability to respond quickly to things happening at internet speed on the PC side of the equation and realized that this would not be in the best interests of our very loyal PC userbase," he went on, "because we would constantly be holding on to updates to wait until they passed cert on the console platform."
Rein was sure to note that the feature may see release later on, "after the game has settled down," but "even then the likelihood is small."
Full Story: shacknews.com
