PlayStation 4 Gets Cross-Play Support And Everyone’s Celebrating

PlayStation has been pretty tight when it comes to cross-play support, but it’s just emerged that Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Mac cross-play will now be available for Sony gamers.

Hooray!

A cross-platform beta will start today for everyone’s favourite/least favourite game, Fortnite.

The official PlayStation blog confirms the news, stating: “For 24 years, we have strived to deliver the best gaming experience to our fans by providing a uniquely PlayStation perspective.

“Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players. In recognition of this, we have completed a thorough analysis of the business mechanics required to ensure that the PlayStation experience for our users remains intact today, and in the future, as we look to open up the platform.

“This represents a major policy change for SIE, and we are now in the planning process across the organisation to support this change. We will update the community once we have more details to share, including more specifics regarding the beta timeframe, and what this means for other titles going forward.”

It’s an incredible move from PlayStation, and it paves the way for a lot of upcoming titles that gamers weren’t sure would make it onto the platform.

Talking about the upcoming The Elder Scrolls: Legends at Quakecon earlier this year, Bethesda top dog Pete Hines hinted at some potentially disappointing news for PlayStation gamers. 

Hines announced that Legends will have: “both cross-platform play and cross-platform progress,” and was quickly asked by GameInformer whether the cross-play extended to the PlayStation 4. 

Hines responded: “It is our intention in order for the game to come out, it has to be those things on any system. 

“We cannot have a game that works one way across everywhere else except for on this one thing. The way the game works right now on Apple, Google, Steam, and Bethesda.net, it doesn’t matter where you buy your stuff, if you play it on another platform that stuff is there.  

“It doesn’t matter what platform you play on, you play against everyone else who is playing at that moment. There’s no ‘Oh, it’s easier to control, or it has a better framerate on this system.’ It’s a strategy card game. It doesn’t matter.” 

He was then pushed a little further, being asked specifically if that means Legends might not be available for PS4 gamers at all, with Hines responding: “those [terms] are essentially non-negotiable.” 

Hopefully the new news that PlayStation is now allowing cross-play – even if it is just a Fortnite beta test for now – means we’ll be getting more support for future titles.

Well done, Sony!