In an unprecedented turn of events, it seems like the success of Fortnite has actually pressured Sony into reconsidering their entire company’s stance on cross-platform play. In an official announcement on their blog, Sony revealed that they would be launching a cross-platform beta for Fortnite starting today.
The whole “lack of cross-play” fiasco blew up back in June with the release of Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch. In addition to not being able to play with your friends on other consoles, players discovered that upon logging into their Fortnite account on the PS4, their account would be locked to the Sony system
When pressed for an official response regarding their rationale behind the decision, according to the Press Association (via The Independent), Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida stated the following:
“On cross-platform, our way of th inking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play. Fortnite, I believe, partnered with PlayStation 4 is the best experience for users, that’s our belief.”
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The new blog post, therefore comes as a bit of a shock – apparently Sony has warmed up to the idea of allowing players to mingle with those exposed to the “inferior” Fortnite experience found in the Switch/X-Box versions of the game.
Here’s their thoughts on this startling turnaround:
“For 24 years, we have strived to deliver the best gaming experience to our fans by providing a uniquely PlayStation perspective. Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players. In recognition of this, we have completed a thorough analysis of the business mechanics required to ensure that the PlayStation experience for our users remains intact today, and in the future, as we look to open up the platform.”
In other words, Sony can’t afford to be as stubborn as they’d like given the weight game developers such as Epic Games carry with big titles like Fortnite. Well, technically they could, but the risks associated with possible financial losses go beyond what they’re willing to gamble.
Their blog posted ended simply stating that this change represents a “major policy shift” for the company, meaning that the entire organization will have to change in order to support this new direction. As a result, they’ll need a bit of time before they can update us with more information such as other titles which could potentially be affected by the support for cross-platform play.
It’s 2018 Sony. Everything and everyone is more connected now than ever. While you realized it a bit late, in the end, it’s better late than never.
Featured Image Source: Dexerto
