Fortnite is a free-to-play third-person shooter which features building mechanics and even a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds-like battle royale mode. The title has garnered incredible popularity over the past few months due to the developer's continued support and its addictive nature.
Fortnite supports cross-play between Xbox One, PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. Sony is the only company that keeps on blocking the ability due to its dominant market position. Instead of focusing on making cross-play a reality, it seems like Sony plans on keeping its network closed off from others.
According to a report by The Independent, Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida believes that PlayStation Network is the best place to play games, that's why cross-play isn't needed. Speaking at the IFA technology show in Berlin, Yoshida said the following.
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. 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.
Despite evidence to the contrary — an independent IHS Markit study said Xbox Live beat the competition — Sony is firm in its stance. However, the issue that needs to be addressed here is that cross-play doesn't offer any advantage to the company.
Sony has a large volume of users, and it doesn't seem like there's a lot of demand from PlayStation 4 owners for cross-play. While it may be a consumer-friendly move and dramatically increase the number of players for Xbox Live and Nintendo Switch owners, PlayStation Network already has access to a lot more.
What do you think about this statement? Should Sony implement cross-play even though they don't need to? Let us know.
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