During E3, it emerged that players who had connected their PlayStation Network accounts to Fortnite were forever locked to that platform, despite the fact that mobile, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch players were able to roam with their progress to any device of their choosing. The backlash continued as Fallout 76 developer Bethesda revealed that it was interested in cross-play, but Sony was preventing it from happening.
Related: Microsoft and Nintendo collaboration hints at an exciting future — but not for PlayStation
A forum thread recently emerged in our forums to discuss this very topic. Could Sony eventually face a large-scale developer backlash for its cross-play stance? Or does it really matter?
Ten Presuppositions Sony owns the console lead this generation and no developer will give that up right now. More PCs than all consoles combined. Switch and Xbox combined will eventually approach PS4 usage base even if they never surpass it. Maintaining one online server is cheaper than multiple servers for different platforms. Many newer games are moving towards an MMO style even with...
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Ultimately, Sony's decision to block cross-play is a necessary, financial one. If the company enabled cross-play, it would remove a huge purchase incentive for millions of players, who typically buy whatever console they need to play with friends. But if more and more people simply choose to avoid the PlayStation platform to ensure they'll be able to roam to other devices in the future, Sony could end up having no choice but to relent.
As detailed in the thread, developers would also prefer to have full cross-play for their multiplayer games, ensuring the largest possible connected player bases.
I've argued in a previous article that while it makes sense for Sony to block this, if the potential ecosystem grows far larger on the intelligent edge of connected gaming devices compared to Sony's platform, developers could shift priorities.
But what do you think? Jump in the thread and let us know.
From the forums: Will Sony eventually face developer backlash?
