Hello there, fellow internet loser! It is I, the great and mighty Ty! Today, I couldn’t help but question; why the hell isn’t Valve porting TF2 to the PS4?!
Now, before you go all fanboy on my ass, hear me out. The PS4 is capable of playing TF2 on its absolute maximum settings in glorious 1080p, while maintaining a stable 60 frames per second. The PS4 is essentially a high powered gaming computer, at least for the moment. It’s built using rather generic computing hardware, and is theoretically compatible with the keyboard and mouse. Valve’s Portal 2 on the PS3 already provides Steam compatibility, allowing you to message and even play with your Steam friends. This cross-platform multiplayer between the PlayStation Network and Steam provides absolute proof that Sony is more than willing to allow third party networking platforms to take advantage of their PSN services, so providing a near perfect port of TF2, with all of the current PC features and maps, wouldn’t be all that complicated of a task. Plus, if you throw in Steam backpack compatibility, you would be able to keep all of your TF2 weapons and items, no matter which system you are connecting from.
In theory, Valve could go all out with their PS4 port, and could even make the game entirely free to play. As a bonus, since all of the multiplayer is being handled by Valve and the Steam community itself, PlayStation Plus wouldn’t be required to play, as Sony themselves previously stated, Plus is an optional service, and developers can choose to not require it. (though Sony prefers for you to have Plus, which is understandable)
Given the open nature of Valve’s Source engine, they could also provide full compatibility with every custom map in existence, though Sony may enforce some form of restrictions on this, as to ensure that the multiplayer servers do not automatically download maps or game mods that could potentially harm or ‘hack’ the PS4 system. Valve would have to provide a list of compatible mods, maps and plugins. They could also create a framework for plugin developers to use, as to ensure that newly created plugins are compatible with the PS4 system.
So, what’s stopping Valve from porting the most popular multiplayer hat simulator to Sony’s PlayStation 4?
Well, nothing much. The technologies are there. They could very well do it, and could even turn it into a near masterpiece. Now, as a PC gamer that has spent thousands of hours in Team Fortress 2 since I got it in 2008, I would absolutely love to have my favourite online video game of all time to be on my favourite next generation video game console, especially if both PC and PS4 versions of TF2 weren’t all that different from each other. If Valve does this right, it could make for an amazing experience that both PS4 and PC players can equally enjoy.
While the odds of Valve porting their flagship video game over to the PS4 seems to be rather low, I can’t help but imagine a future where gaming isn’t about exclusive properties, but rather a unified world of fun and creative freedom. You can’t blame me for dreaming, right?
Valve, if you’re reading this, please make this happen. Restore my faith in the future of this industry. I’m sure there are thousands, if not millions of TF2 gamers that desire the same thing as I do. It would be super awesome to be able to go out, buy a $399 game console, and play Team Fortress 2 with my PS4 and PC friends at the exact same time, on the exact same server, with everything maxed out. Not to mention a stable frame rate and full 1080p.
Please Valve, make this happen.
Share your thoughts in the comments below. Do you think TF2 would fit nicely on the PS4? Now, I’m not talking about a poorly crafted port with 7 maps and 3 game modes. I’m talking TF2, in its original PC glory. All the maps, all the modes, all the weapons, all the hats. Everything, maxed out, running on a $399 game console. Full keyboard and mouse support, full chat, full voice commands, full everything.
What say you?
(ps. spread the word about this article if you think this should happen. Maybe we can turn this into a magical petition. Comment for support, rate for cookies. You know, the usual bullshit petition stuff that others websites post)