PlayStation has been surrounded by controversy as of late due to their stance on cross-platform multiplayer, particularly with Fortnite, the free-to-play Battle Royale behemoth.
In June, John Smedley, the ex-boss of the company behind H1Z1, provided a reason as to why PlayStation was hesitant to consider cross-play, saying that “the stated reason internally for this was money.” However, because of the backlash from players, they have issued “a major policy change for [Sony Interactive Entertainment] SIE” and are preparing“to support this change” starting with a Fortnite beta which will allow for cross-platform interaction.
It signals that the future for cross-play is far brighter
Psyonix, the developer of Rocket League, is one of the many studios that have been pushing for cross-play. Their Vice President of Publishing, Jeremy Dunham, tweeted a response to the news of PlayStation’s policy change. In the tweet, he discussed how “it’s a great step forward” but said that they “don’t have any updates” and that they “recommend reaching out to Sony for comment”, not to them. Epic, the company behind Fortnite, has also updated their players as they are designing a workaround for those with multiple accounts for specific platforms.
In the past, PlayStation has blocked cross-play between the PS4 and their primary rival, the Xbox One. With their stance changing on Fortnite, it signals that the future for cross-play is far brighter. This opens a huge barrier between platforms as it will allow friends to play together and still enjoy their preferred console.