Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida explains why the PlayStation 4 console does not support cross-play for Epic Games’ multiplayer sandbox survival shooter Fortnite.
As of late, one of the major criticisms levied against Sony has been related to the company’s stance on Fortnite‘s cross-platform play and progression on PS4, with some fans arguing that it’s a myopic move on the Japanese tech firm’s part to not be interested in cross-play with Switch and Xbox One. Be that as it may, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida recently decided to clear the air about the matter and explain why Fortnite on PlayStation 4 doesn’t support cross-play with the Nintendo and Microsoft consoles.
When discussing the issue of cross-platform play, Yoshida didn’t really offer much food for thought, as the CEO claimed, “On cross-platform, our way of thinking 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.” This non-statement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, for with Sony’s PS4 currently being the leader in hardware sales by a wide margin, it looks like doesn’t want to cede absolutely any ground to its competitors in the Switch and Xbox One.
While it looks like Fortnite cross-platform play and progression on PlayStation 4 won’t be happening with Xbox One or Switch any time soon, Yoshida did admit to the company being somewhat open to the idea when it comes to its consoles interacting with PC and mobile devices. Regarding the matter, the Sony CEO said, “But actually, we already opened some games as cross-platform with PC and some others, so we decide based on what is the best user experience. That is our way of thinking for cross-platform.” He also asserted that Sony sees the current status of industry competition as “healthy”, saying:
Although Yoshida doesn’t elaborate as to why he believes that Fortnite cross-play between PS4, PC, and mobile devices is more ideal without Switch and Xbox One in the mix, it seems obvious when one looks at the situation from a business perspective. As previously mentioned, with the PlayStation 4 selling extremely well–its projected lifetime sales are just over 100 million units by 2020, in fact–it appears as if Sony would rather risk alienating those who want more open cross-platform play on PS4 than allow any potential revenue to reach its competitors’ pockets.
