Having resisted for so long, Sony is finally giving in and allowing cross-play on the PS4 “for select third party content”, meaning PlayStation 4 owners will soon get to play the same game against people on competing consoles.
In a blog post, Sony say:
Following a comprehensive evaluation process, SIE has identified a path toward supporting cross-platform features for select third party content. We recognise that PS4 players have been eagerly awaiting an update, and we appreciate the community’s continued patience as we have navigated through this issue to find a solution.
That path begins now, with an open beta for Fortnite that’ll let PS4 players go up against people on the Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac and mobile.
In perhaps an admission as to why this has taken so long, when the competition has allowed it for ages, Sony adds that “This represents a major policy change for SIE”, and say there’ll be more information on “other titles going forward” when “we have more details to share”.
It would make sense that it’s been a policy challenge rather than a technical one, since cross-play between PS4 and Xbox One was accidentally turned on last year before being quickly disabled.
Comments
29 responses to “Sony Is Finally Allowing Cross-Play On The PS4”
Honestly I’m surprised.
I’m not. They get lambasted over their snooty “Why would you want to play with non-playstation” IE: Why would you want to play with LESSER PEOPLE.
Please. Microsoft pulled the same crap when they were in charge.
The only difference is that Sony are making changes while they’re still leading the pack. Microsoft only started crying out for this and trying to become the gaming community’s golden child when they fell behind.
At the end of the day, there’s only one superior people and that’s PC gamers.
I dont know any PC gamers that dont have a console as well. If they’re out there, there arent many of em.
Personally, it depends on what gametype I’m playing. Some suit console better, others suit PC. I’m going through an MMO phase at the moment for example, so playing more on PC, but if I change moods and want to play a racer, I’ll plonk my butt on the lounge and spark up the PS4.
As for Microsoft pulling the same crap, too true. Upvote for that. Only difference I can see is that online gaming is far more prevalent than it was in that era, but thats splitting hairs. Plenty of games had an online component in the original Xbox days, and they actively chose to ignore crossplay then, much like Sony today. Their market share was so high they didnt want to risk it by including either PSX or PC gamers, even though they owned the PC market.
Most kids wouldnt remember that though, and just care about today. So dont know the history of the issue in the past. And dont care either.
I actually agree with everything you said but I was primarily speaking of the 360/PS3 era.
I just like stirring the fanboys.
I primarily play PC but my PS4 has been running hot with Spider-Man/God of War in the past few months. My XBone had plenty of use up until the start of this year. My Switch has been a mainstay since I got one earlier this year.
Upvote back at you for being aware of and remembering the history of this saga. Hopefully it’s over once and for all soon.
Figured you were trolling, I just remember some comments on another thread on there really not being a PC Master Race any more 🙂 So figured I’d repeat em here. Its pretty much all in the heads of the console-only players these days who think its still a thing.
And yeah, definitely remember when the topic was reversed. Been gaming waaaay too many years to forget that. Those late 90’s/early 00’s were a great era of gaming too, and the crossplay debate played its part in why. It meant console exclusives like Halo meant something as each brand tried to outdo the other.
Its had nothing to do with who was on top, its the change in management that allowed crossplay on xbox.
Oh come on. It had everything to do with MS being woefully behind in market share. If they were on top, it is highly unlikely that they would have allowed cross play.
It’s a shame it has taken this long, but good on Sony for doing it, they could have stuck it out like every other console has when they were in the #1 position.
I’m glad to see it.
Fanboy logic at work…..
If “every other console [stuck it out] when they were in the #1 position”, maybe Sony should have taken the initiative back then!
MS probably did it because they’re coming second, but they’ve also lead almost all innovation in the online space.
Sony were behind NINTENDO on this feature! They don’t even know what the internet is!
Can’t hear you over my console exclusives~
Yes I have a gaming PC, but seldom game on it, because console exclusives are a lot more fun.
I’ve gone exclusively PC now and sold my PS4. There are a lot of xbox games available on windows, which rules out needing an xbone. And I couldn’t justify the value of having a PS4 debiting a subscription fee and gather dust for most of the year just to have access to a couple of good exclusives.
Although I would like to play with my old PS4 brethren on my PC, so this give me hope and even less of a need to own multiple platforms.
I am the same. I have a PC which I bought for working purposes (3D graphics) and it has ample grunt to play PC games…but I just have no interest. My PS4 gets all the use and has done so since launch.
As for the topic on hand, thank you Sony for listening to us. While I spend most of my time with single player games, it’s nice to know that the cross-play option is being expanded.
Ah, yes. All those amazing console exclusives like.. ermm… oh, yes, that’s right! Detroit: The David Cagening
And… umm… some other games… I’m sure they exist…
Seriously, for each console generation I think there are maybe 1 or 2 exclusives that are actually worth playing.
On PC I get better performance, better graphics, better game prices, and I have a device I can use for a lot more than just playing games.
I love my PS4 for all its exclusives but I am pretty sure that there are far far more PC exclusives than there are console exclusives.
Well there you go .. hopefully they’ll add Rocket League to the list so I can lose to my colleagues at work who are on xbox.
Hopefully this leads to more longevity in multiplayer games.
Agreed. No longevity in games these days.
I’ve basically stopped buying MP games on either Xbox or PC these days because they simply die out after a few months. Unless it’s a big game like Fortnite or LOL, it;s hard for other games to break into the market.
…. Is this what the notorious ps4 update 6.0 was hiding??
That patch is probably just going to remain an infamous mystery forever and Sony will never reveal anything.
It was almost certainly designed around mitigating the recent jailbreaks in the 5.x releases.
Major changes to security layers deserve a major release version, just users don’t get why.
Great now PC master race has to play with plebs.
has to beat up on plebs*
Or complain that the plebs get aim assist.
Great, now Console plebs have to put up with PC elitists.
On the plus side, it opens up a whole new area for trolling.
“Are you playing on console?” could be the new teabagging.
LOL I really couldn’t give an eff. I own both & am happy to see this happen, especially for games like Monster Hunter World and the such. But I can’t really see it working with FPS games, where PC has a clear advantage. What are your thoughts?
Agreed, let it go. We all have groups of friends split up by the platforms they own. Be nice if this wasn’t an issue
For pure PVP, I doubt it would be hard to prioritise similar platforms in matchmaking. For PVE games like destiny, have at it, don’t care who plays with who.
So I assume this will fix the “Link Fortnite to a PSN account and you can’t use it on other platforms” issue?
My nephew was one of those stung when he got his switch and had to create a new account.