In an interview with Wired, Sony has announced that its cross-platform play program has exited beta, and is now available for all developers to implement in their games. For this announcement, Sony did not release an official press release, so Wired (who also announced the first details on PS5), got the scoop. Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO said:
The track record of the incumbent platform winning the next time around is not a great one, So the major thrust of my executive energy is to avoid complacency.
Up until last year, Sony had refused to enter the cross-platform play space. After E3 2017, where Microsoft announced cross-play for Minecraft for the first time, Sony defended its decision to block cross-play with other platforms. In an exclusive interview with Eurogamer, Jim Ryan said:
It’s certainly not a profound philosophical stance we have against this. We’ve done it in the past. We’re always open to conversations with any developer or publisher who wants to talk about it. Unfortunately it’s a commercial discussion between ourselves and other stakeholders, and I’m not going to get into the detail of that on this particular instance
In September 2018, Sony announced that they would be trialing cross-play with a few select games with Fortnite being the main attraction. Now, many more titles support cross-platform play between PS4, Xbox One, and PC (and sometimes even the Nintendo Switch). Some of the highlights include Minecraft, Rocket League, and most recently, PUBG. Call of Duty Modern Warfare that releases later this month will support cross-platform play from day one.
What do you make on this latest development for cross-platform play? Let us know in the comments below!
For more on PS4 news, check out the “Games of a Generation” sale on the PlayStation Store, and the latest on Shawn Layden as he left his role as chairman of Sony Worldwide Studios.
