It has been a strange couple of weeks for Sony. Microsoft arguably outperformed them at E3, with a stronger showing of games overall and a much tighter press conference, and then Fortnite on Nintendo Switch happened. What should have been a straightforward launch for an exciting game on Nintendo’s hybrid machine turned out to be something of a disaster, thanks to Sony’s refusal to allow cross-platform play with competitor’s machines. It’s still the case that Sony blocks cross-platform play.
Indeed, the game would not allow one to log in to their Epic Games account on Switch if they have played on PS4, and vice versa. It’s not the first time Sony hasn’t allowed cross-platform play, either. Rocket League is another example. Cross-platform is such a user-friendly service, people have been wondering why Sony does disallow it. Now we have an answer, from someone who still works at Sony, no less.
Why Sony Blocks Cross-Platform Play
Speaking on Twitter, John Smedley (the former boss of Sony Online Entertainment) explained that the reason why Sony blocks cross-platform play is rather simple. It really is all down to money, which finally provides some credence to everybody’s thoughts:
“When I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money, they didn’t like someone buying something on Xbox and it being used on a PlayStation. Simple as that. Dumb reason, but there it is.”
While this might be a dumb, purely profit-based reason, John does argue that “if we keep the pressure up this problem goes away”. There you have it, folks. Sony simply wants you to buy games and play them on your PS4. What of John’s comments about keeping the pressure up? If you want to see true cross-platform play on PS4, you need to keep shouting about it. It sounds like Sony might actually listen if we all try hard enough.
