The Problem
As of right now, the Nintendo Switch version of Rec Room has been separated from normal cross-platform play for about a month, most likely due to the slow update cycle. That means all the friends the switch players made with cross platform players are on a “newer version” than switch players, forcing them to not be able to play together.
We can either wait until Nintendo decides to let apps update more often, or we can implement an in-game compromise.
Bleeding Edge and Universal Rooms
What I want to propose is a way for older game room versions to visit older public versions of rooms with newer players, and the best wat i can think of doing that is a new option to make Bleeding Edge and Universal version rooms.
“Bleeding-edge” versions of rooms will use the latest features and props added in more recent updates, and can’t be accessed by older versions of the game. Every time the older versions update, these rooms will be unlocked as well. These rooms can also be used for longer feature testing cycles for developers, showing more bugs and allowing the Rec Room Team to polish creation things before release to all platforms.
“Universal” versions of rooms will have less features than the bleeding edge versions, but will allow everyone to play together, regardless of platform or version. These rooms will be every room as of the implementation of this feature across platforms.
The Ups and Downs of this System
By making and releasing “Universal” Rooms, player retention/engagement across switch players with cross platform friends will increase. Also, for the people who want to play and tinker with the latest and greatest, “Bleeding Edge” rooms will be perfect for them, yet will still be playable by some time. This will not only be a good for now solution, this is also good future proofing for players who can’t update all the time, as well as potential future platforms with an update limitation like the Nintendo Switch version.
There are some cases where this can be complicated. What if you want to join a room with everybody, but you’re on a newer version? Best I can do for that is a “Prefer Universal Room Versions” toggle in the Misc. settings, akin to the Avoid Juniors toggle. Either that, or present the player with 2 instance buttons for bleeding edge and universal rooms, or add a version dropdown like Rooms 2 Inventions.
However, in a way some of the work is already done. We already have a toggle for Beta Creation Content, both in rooms 1 and rooms 2. We can make all #beta rooms bleeding-edge rooms, and all non-#beta rooms universal. Then, when the beta content is released, or when the newest older version release is released, the room is already playable, just how rooms right now are, while all universal rooms are well, universally playable.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Universal and Bleeding Edge rooms are a way to not only allow disadvantaged platforms to play with newer versions, but also a better system to squash bugs before they go live on every room. This will also increase player engagement and retention, allowing an entire platform to play with friends from other platforms, as well as the potential future platforms after it.