Sony has been the lone holdout for cross platform play, a position that has become more and more untenable for them as more and more high profile games, such as Rocket League, Minecraft, Paladins, and Fortnite, have become fully cross platform play, including between rival consoles Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. It’s a situation that has come to a head with the launch of Fortnite on the Switch, which makes sense, given that it i the most popular game in the world at the moment.
Sony’s response to the whole controversy has been flaccid and limp, first making a lame excuse about cross platform play not being safe “for children” last year, and then completely sidestepping the issue with their response to the controversy this year. However, now, in a new response by SIE America’s head Shawn Layden, we get what might be their most honest response to the situation so far.
“We’re hearing it,” Layden said to EuroGamer. “We’re looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I’m confident we’ll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business.”
Layden’s admission that it is about “supporting their business” is at least honest, and confirms something that everyone already knew- Sony has no principled opposition to the idea, they are just doing it for business reasons. Which is fine- but hopefully, they can in fact create a compromise that meets players’ needs, as well as their own.
