Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Fortnite, PS4, sony, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment

Sony Online Entertainment Ex-CEO Cites Money For Crossplay Failure

In a statement that shouldn't catch anyone by surprise, a former Sony Online Entertainment CEO says money is the reason crossplay isn't happening. When the entire Fortnite controversy with PS4 players having to make new accounts on their Nintendo Switch broke out, people were pissed off and yet unsurprised by Sony's decision not to participate. But at the same time, people wanted an official reason why. Which prompted John Smedley, a former CEO of Sony Online Entertainment, to reply to Kinda Funny's Greg Miller on Twitter about the subject in this now deleted tweet from June 18th.

btw when I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money. They didn't like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. simple as that. dumb reason, but there it is.

Sony sent out an official statement to the BBC on the issue, but it doesn't take away from the stinging reality that Smedley laid out. What kind of sucks on the entire matter is that Sony fails to recognize the potential of crossplay for people who only own a PS4. As someone who owns a copy of Overwatch on PS4, I would rather enjoy having matches with people who own the same game on PC and Xbox One than have an audience limited by a console. Or have the ability to play my account on another system if one is going through an update or has a downed server. But that's clearly an argument for another day.

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