Sony has gone under fire recently after PS4 players were once again reminded of the bitter fact that cross-play with other platforms is pretty much a dream for the PlayStation 4. Epic Games’ Fortnite just released for the Nintendo Switch, and players found out that once their Fortnite accounts are linked to the PSN, they can no longer use it for the Switch version.
Now, former Sony developer John Smedley, the ex-president of Sony Online Entertainment, which changed its name to Daybreak Game Company in 2015, shared his opinion via Twitter on the Sony's reasoning.
“btw when I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money. They didn't like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. simple as that. dumb reason, but there it is.”
To put it simply, Sony doesn’t want its players to purchase content for Fortnite from the PC and still have it available on the PlayStation 4. Sony recently issued a statement in an attempt to address the situation but failed miserably as it did not address the issue that players are concerned about.
Sony’s hesitation to support cross-play with other platforms is not just limited to Fortnite. In fact, players were outraged after PS4 versions of popular online games such as Rocket League did not support cross-play, even when other platforms did. In fact, Rocket League’s developer Psyonix revealed that they can activate cross-play for the PS4 at any time, they are just waiting for Sony’s go-signal. However, given the company’s firm stance on the issue, it seems that cross-play is still a long road ahead for the PS4.
