Share. "Dumb reason, but there it is." "Dumb reason, but there it is."
Former head of Sony Online Entertainment, John Smedley, has suggested a reason for the Fortnite cross-play block: it could simply come down to "money."
In response to a video on the cross-play block by Kinda Funny's Greg Miller, Smedley tweeted, "If we keep up the pressure, the problem goes away." Smedley then went on to claim that, while he was at Sony, the historical reason for denying cross-play was stated as being financial.
btw when I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money. They didn't like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. simple as that. dumb reason, but there it is. — John Smedley (@j_smedley) June 18, 2018
The cross-play block imposed by Sony has been brought to light again recently due to Fortnite launching on the Nintendo Switch. Players who have previously linked their Epic Games account with the PlayStation 4 version have found they are unable to log in with the same account on the Switch. This means that players are unable to carry over Fortnite purchases made on the PlayStation 4 over to Switch, so you essentially have to start all over again. However, accounts created on all other platforms, such as Xbox One and PC, can be carried over to Switch along with all of your purchases.
Despite Xbox's Phil Spencer saying he would like cross-play between Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Sony seems less keen. Last year, PlayStation global sales and marketing head Jim Ryan told Eurogamer the decision to block cross-play was due to Sony wanting to protect its players from "external influences."
Editor's note: this post was edited for clarity.
Vic is a freelance news writer for IGN. Often found force-feeding people The Sims or gifting PlayerUnknown potato bread. You can follow her on Twitter @hood_vic.
modestlaw on June 19th, 2018 at 21:08 UTC »
Oh man John Smedley, there's a name I haven't heard in a hot minute.
For those who don't know, Smedley was one of the original devs for EverQuest. The guy helped create the modern MMO and was involved in Sony's online gaming buisness from the beginning.
This isn't some rando former employee.
TheWetMop on June 19th, 2018 at 18:35 UTC »
Blocking Cross Platform play makes business sense when you're the leading console. It incentivizes new console purchasers to buy into your ecosystem in order to play with their friends. That all makes sense to me. It's not great for consumers, but ok.
What people are much more frustrated by is Sony locking Epic accounts to their system and not allowing them to be used anywhere else. Switch players not being able to play with their PS4 owning friends is a minor story. Switch owners being locked out of playing on a portable console because they've played on a PS4 at any point ever is the real controversy. Any Sony justification talking about cross platform play is dodging the actual question.
Riomegon on June 19th, 2018 at 18:06 UTC »
So this wasn't about protecting the children from the mean ol' Nintendo fans huh... who woulda though!