Microsoft expands their appeal to the eSports community after taking the Game Developers Conference by storm with news of their first cross-platform project, a new Xbox Live Tournament Platform, and relationships with FaceIt and the Electronics Sports League.

The 2016 Game Developers Conference (GDC) is in the bag. Microsoft had two huge announcements to make that align with their intention to take advantage of the growing momentum of the eSports industry.

The first involves their intention to open the doors of their home with an invite to other gaming platforms, like arch-rival Sony, to kick off their shoes and take a pew.

A lot of the credit has to go to Psyonix Studios VP Jeremy Dunham, who has been pushing hard for cross-platform play for his hit title Rocket League. Writing in a blog post on RocketLeagueGame.com Dunham said he was ‘honoured’ and ‘excited’ to have Rocket League as the first cross-network game, and said it was the number one most requested feature emanating from their community since the game Xbox One launched the game.