Nintendo has proven to be a surprisingly progressive pioneer and stalwart of cross platform play on its platform. While they have always allowed cross platform play going as far back as the Wii U, with the Switch, they have embraced the concept in its entirety, championing it in major games such as Rocket League, Minecraft, and most recently, Fortnite.
In these games, and in many others, Switch players can play with Xbox One, PC, iOS, Android, and Mac players- but not PS4. PS4 owners get shut out of this massive cross platform play pool- because Sony won’t allow cross platform play with other consoles for whatever reason. They will allow it with PC and mobile, but not with other consoles. When they are asked about it, they mumble lame excuses, but have never actually relented on the matter, in spite of many developers explicitly calling them out on it.
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime was asked by IGN in an interview to comment on the matter- and he had some very biting words to say. “We embrace working with a developer and enabling them to bring their vision to life and whether that’s Fortnite, whether that’s a number of the other games that have cross-platform play on our console, from a developer standpoint that’s what we want,” he said. “And we work hard with them to bring that to life. What competitors do is their decision to make. We believe being both developer-forward and fan-forward is in the best interest of the game.”
Sony- you are in a position when Nintendo is being more forward thinking, more pro-consumer, and more developer-friendly, than you, and they are calling you out on it publicly. That is the world you have created, because you stupidly refuse to relent on this one very important thing. It’s time to do the right thing, Sony, and embrace cross platform play and progression. I promise you, you won’t lose customers because of it- in fact, many more Xbox and Nintendo owners are likelier to switch to your platform if they know they can continue playing their favorite games right where they left off if they do get a PlayStation.
