Responding to a fan on Twitter, Xbox boss Phil Spencer and Epic Games confirm that both groups continue to want crossplay between PS4 and Xbox One players to happen.
As Fortnite continues to surpass expectations and even challenge the once thought to be untouchable PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, developers and fans have started to rally around the idea of crossplay more and more. Epic has a history of tinkering with the idea of linking players between different platforms and even had to remove the feature when players discovered it after the game launched last year. With more and more players continuing to join, Microsoft appears to be once again pushing for crossplay compatibility.
On Twitter, Microsoft’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer was asked by a fan if PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players would ever be able to play together, going on to say that its a feature most Fortnite players would love to see. Spencer responded by saying he’d also like to see this feature implemented. Later in the thread, Epic Games got in on the discussion by saying that they’d love to be able to add this feature as well.
As willing as Microsoft is on the idea of crossplay, Sony continues to be the major obstacle in getting this feature approved. To date, Sony has not given consent for any title to add cross play even though games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Rocket League are more than capable of adding it in. Last year, the two companies reportedly discussed the topic, but a frustrated Phil Spencer confirmed that the talks never got too far. At this point, Sony hasn’t detailed why the company is against the idea of crossplay, though it’s more than reasonable to assume that most players are wondering why.
While crossplay doesn’t appear to be in the near future of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players, Fortnite does have a way for PC and PS4 players to link up in game. Last week, PC players reported that they were able to meet up with friends on the PlayStation 4 version of the game to jump into a Battle Royale match. It involves a few steps through both the PlayStation Network and Epic Games website, but by linking a PSN Account to the player’s Epic Account, they can then add friends to their list, which will then appear within the game friend list regardless of platform.
Fortnite is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
