Sony Issues Statement Regarding Fortnite Cross-Platform Play on PS4

A total cop out. I don't even play Fortnite, but this just seems like a bad
move.

Yeah I don't play often now either but applaud them for sticking to their guns.

4theplayers

At this point the only way to fix this is to just allow cross play for switch even if it is fortnite only at least it will calm eveyone down

I don’t care about not being to cross-play with PS4 players. If Sony want to limit the ability to play against other consoles that’s okay. Annoying but okay.

What I hate about this situation is that your account is being limited to only PS4 with regards to Xbox and Switch. That’s out of order in my mind. Epic clearly allow the ability to carry your progress across platforms but Sony say ‘no, keep it with us.’ That’s just not acceptable in my eyes.

Don't care!

About the cross-platform issue, this would be resolved if the Epic wanted to (they are a big company). After all, is their game, they could say to Sony is cross-platform or no Fortnite for PS4. But like all companies, they like to make money, and here we are.

This Is(nt) For The Players

@LaNooch1978 It’s not that simple.

Say Sony allows console cross-play with Fortnite.
What stops COD, FIFA, NBA,... now demanding cross play?
Great for the gamers? Yes.
However, Sony uses its Install base as leeway in securing favourable marketing deals.

If you remove the install base then the platform holders are all competing on a level playing field & this will drive up the marketing deals (exclusivity rights) up in price.

Sony are not giving up millions just to appease a vocal minority.

We might not like it, but it ain’t happening.

Also people do buy a certain console over another just to play with their friends.

@HungryWolf Epic have no obligation to do what's right for gamers. If they avoided 80 million gamers just to change Sony's stance, that's just bad business. Next gen maybe, but to hardball Sony at this time would a bad move. Like you say, companies like to make money.

@LaNooch1978 cross play is cross play. If ANY game does it free or not, it opens the conversation. Why only free games? Why not paid games? Opens a can of worms once Sony start. So they don't. I don't like it either but here we are.

kobayashi maru.

@Dange I disagree about Epic, they are the first people who does have obligation to do what's right for the gamers. It's their game.
I think Epic has the clout to push Sony to accept cross-platform, after all, they are the company that created the most used graphics engine.

@LaNooch1978 It would open the flood gates & F2P or not Fortnite is pretty much the biggest game in the world across all the platforms.

Once Sony give in, there would be no stopping it.

I do think Sony shouldn’t hold the PS4 Fortnite accounts ‘hostage’, but cross console play is a much more complicated situation.

As long as Sony is the market leader I can’t see them budging.

@HungryWolf Sony don't licence the engine. I'm sure they use in house kits (Decima engine for Guerrilla games as an example) it's the 3rd party devs that license Unreal. Nothing to do with Sony.

They may have some clout but why do it? Seems like they have more to loose than gain. Like I say playing hardball with a company that has an install base of some 80 million may not be wise.

Does not bother me crossplay.all my friends have ps4.all this hassle over fortnite which you dont need ps plus to play.but you need xbox live to play.im not bothered about crossplay.people are going to far with this crap.bigger games coming than fortnite.

I think epic implemented the account lock to generate consumer ire and force Sony's hand on cross play.

Ha ha ha, cry babies. But I want to tansfer my loot boxes.. Err nope. It's a business, Nintendo and Microsoft can swivel.

@AhabSpampurse its a business 😂

@LaNooch1978 yes they do, loot boxes/skins not sold on PSN because of file transfer, it also encourages people to buy content on other platforms and just use cross play, it encourages plays to play on other consoles (direct rivals) because sony will inflate the player base massively for the other two consoles.

@SKC_Diamond nope, its a business 😂

@Shepherd_Tallon 😂 it's a business, PlayStation playerbase is their profit, why would they share it

I just realized I don't know why I'm even bothered to debate either way. I didn't care for Fortnite and never really play online nowadays haha. I guess I could take it or leave it.

Reminds me of the whole cross game chat thing last gen which was a huge deal at the time. It's nice to have but ultimately it's something I've used maybe once.

I can remember a time when XBox was the dominant brand in gaming but then with few unpopular policies and some bad PR they lost it all and Sony stepped in. The same could be said with Nintendo with the N64.

Playstation should be wary of ignoring it's customers because there are no guarantees they'll continue their dominance with the PS5 if they fall into complacency and bullishness.

Don't allow it for Xbox, fine. But AT LEAST bring it over to switch. PlayStation and Nintendo fans overlap A LOT.

I think it would be great to cross play but I fully understand why they are not, thoses people saying they will choose xbox over playstation next generation because of this issue are ridiculous. We play playstation because of there amazing range of exclusive not because you can't cross play a third party game with that one friend who choose forza, gears, halo repeat for 7 years

I understand not doing cross play but locking the account to PS4 only is a killer for me. For multi-console gamers like myself this puts me off playing online on PS4 as it limits choice. Luckily they have some of the best single player games.

This isn't a statement about the problem at all xD they are just avoiding it

As others have said, I don't think the ire here is mainly due to not allowing cross-play, but more in the fact your account is locked from being used on other platforms. Personally I don't play Fortnite or anything multiplayer on consoles any more, but it still leaves a sour taste to hear Sony continuing with tactics like this. It would be nice if we get a generation where the market leader actually thinks about retaining its user base in the long term, rather than focusing on short term gains.

@gmxs @Kai_ THIS IS FOR THE PAYERS

@HungryWolf not to mention, Epic needs to sign a standard contract to get their game on the platform. Sony's not going to change the contract, just for one game. They didn't for Minecraft, and that game was as big then as Fortnite is now.

Fortnite ps4 didn't have cross-play with competing console (xbox), why people suddenly think it will cross-play with another competing console (switch)?

I think the reason sony didn't have problem with cross-play between ps4, pc and android/ios is because most ps4 users has pc and smartphone.

It's a shame. Hopefully there'll be greater competition in the next console generation so that Sony won't be able to get away with these kind of moves.

Sounds like a case of sour grapes because the current console leader doesn't feel the need to share with consoles that don't even come close to the sales of the PS4, combined. I'm sure they've prepared for all of the sales they're going to lose because of this decision too

Apparently this is your epic account, not just fortnite? Played one game of fortnite once and uninstalled, thought it was pants. My 12 yr old niece and all her mates however, live and breath this!! This even made BBC news this morning, must be a big deal to some folks. Cross-play no way for sony but if your account is locked to Sony, probs not the best consumer practice. Mind you just cos I bought content on Ubisoft club on ps4 I wouldn't expect it to work on Xbox.

Sony is stuck in the stone ages in regards to crossplay. But the issues here is that they are punishing players who want to play other consoles.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would leave the PlayStation Platform for Fortnite a free to play game! Just calm down and play Fortnite on your preferred platform just like every other game made!!

It's on the sodding BBC!! lol

Funny how people are attacking Sony for being anti-consumer because this matter only when MS doesn’t allow players without live to play f2p games. Sony already has a huge fanbase and they allow cross-platform with three devices already. Xbox fanbase is not that big, nothing of value will be lost anyway. This is a non issue created by the media, funny how they never attacked MS on the last generation when they refused to do cross-play.

I would still like to know definitively whether or not the decision to the lock the account was made by Epic of Sony. All indications would seem to point at this being Epic's decision.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, from a business prospective cross platform is always going to hurt the company on top the most.

Personally, I believe it should be up to the developer/host to decide whether or not crossplay is allowed. It is ultimately their time and money to enable these features. This is also why I think the account lock is an Epic issue and not a Sony issue too.

@glassmusic they were open to it longer than they've been against it. When they were the underdog, they loved the idea, but now that they are on top, it is seen as something that will hurt business (because it would likely hurt them). Microsoft was the same way last generation.

good on Sony sticking to there guns to many gamers these days think they can chuck a fit when they do not get what they want

The Exclusive Games argument doesn't fully work.
Those are, most of the time, first party games.
This is a 3rd party game and as such, Sony, who isn't even the account holder, is restricting access to consumer money spent with the 3rd party from accessing that spent cash on the 3rd party elsewhere. That is what I see as the problem, not no cross plans or any thing else.

it's a lose-lose for sony, and imo, i think microsoft are only open to it because it's potential a revenue driver for them.

personally, i don't want my psn user id/sign-in or any other info shared with xbox live or nintendo's network or even the possibility of it being shared, so there are privacy issues to consider imo.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi that means nothing, and doesn't wholly justify their decision. Working for an enormous company, I get that the bottom line counts. But public perception weighs heavily on our business decisions. And being as big as we are, I have to make decisions all the time that I don't personally agree with, and which cost us money. The alternative is that we risk reputational damage in the public eye, which is exactly what Sony is doing right now, and something big businesses typically avoid like the plague.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi Are you getting paid every time you say the word "business"?

@solcross
That's none of your business.
~Kerching~

I hope after Sony was affected by the backlash they received over this Fortnite situation, it might knock a bit of sense into them and try and make a compromise with Epic. They'll need it to reclaim confidence in the PlayStation brand at this vital time as we lead into the next generation. I love PS but I'm worried that Sony are handling this badly and it might cost them next gen.