wraggster
February 18th, 2019, 19:03
For all that Sony has done right in this console generation -- and it's done a hell of a lot right overall -- it is still prone to occasional blind-spots; moments when the pro-consumer, pro-developer attitudes it has worked so hard to cultivate around the PlayStation 4 slip, and we see a glimpse that reminds us how bad Sony once was at maintaining those relationships.
The ongoing mess around cross-play functionality on PS4 (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-02-13-devs-refute-sony-claims-that-its-open-for-business-with-cross-platform-play) -- which would allow PlayStation players to enjoy multiplayer games with friends on PC, Xbox or Switch -- is a textbook example; a flash of Sony's old stubbornness has turned this molehill into a mountain, risking souring the company's image among game creators and players alike.
The substance of the issue is that after refusing to enable cross-play for a very long time (citing some hazily defined concerns over player experience), Sony finally caved last autumn and allowed cross-play to be implemented in Fortnite. This was likely a response to the out-sized popularity of that game, which was cross-play enabled across almost all other systems, making PS4 into the odd man out at a pretty commercially important party.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-02-15-stubbornness-over-cross-play-reminds-us-of-bad-old-sony
The ongoing mess around cross-play functionality on PS4 (https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-02-13-devs-refute-sony-claims-that-its-open-for-business-with-cross-platform-play) -- which would allow PlayStation players to enjoy multiplayer games with friends on PC, Xbox or Switch -- is a textbook example; a flash of Sony's old stubbornness has turned this molehill into a mountain, risking souring the company's image among game creators and players alike.
The substance of the issue is that after refusing to enable cross-play for a very long time (citing some hazily defined concerns over player experience), Sony finally caved last autumn and allowed cross-play to be implemented in Fortnite. This was likely a response to the out-sized popularity of that game, which was cross-play enabled across almost all other systems, making PS4 into the odd man out at a pretty commercially important party.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-02-15-stubbornness-over-cross-play-reminds-us-of-bad-old-sony