The cross platform play controversy had finally begun to die down for Sony, when they decided to go and put their foot in the mouth again. Their previous responses to the controversy have been embarrassingly transparent attempts at damage control, such as when they said they needed to safeguard children on their platform.
That said, earlier this year, they had made statements that had given some hope to many that the company may be coming around to the question eventually. And then, Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida, speaking at the IFA technology show in Berlin (via The Independent), decided to make a statement that makes it clear the company is not about to budge on this matter any time soon.
Speaking about cross platform play, Yoshida said that the PS4 is the best place to play games for players, and Sony would not want to compromise that by allowing for playing with other platforms.
“On cross-platform, our way of thinking is always that PlayStation is the best place to play. Fortnite, I believe, partnered with PlayStation 4 is the best experience for users, that’s our belief,” he said. “But actually, we already opened some games as cross-platform with PC and some others, so we decide based on what is the best user experience. That is our way of thinking for cross-platform.”
This is such a horrible statement (especially since PS4 is no longer the best place to play, even for consoles; the Xbox One X is better if you want high end graphics, the Switch for convenience and portability), and so arrogant and presumptuous, that I don’t even know what to say. I know Sony is a business that will look out for its own interests, but if nothing else, you would think they would understand the optics of bad PR.
