A few years ago, Sony seemed to be the only major publisher uninterested in implementing cross-play for PlayStation games. While Microsoft and Nintendo were actively encouraging it and forming a new friendship, Sony resisted the idea of cross-play despite Microsoft's appeals and the loud demands from the general public.
Nowadays, that's far less of a problem. Cross-play is becoming more common-place, with many PS4 and PS5 games allowing their players to interact and play with/against those using PCs, Xbox consoles, or the Nintendo Switch. And it sounds like Sony is ready to fully embrace the feature.
Speaking with Axios, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan stated that Sony wants even more cross-platform and cross-play games on its consoles. He said that the company supports and encourages the feature, and that the number of compatible games will continue to grow. The list already includes massively popular titles like Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Minecraft, and Destiny 2 will be added to it later this year.
This can only be read as good news. Taken at face value, Ryan's comments portray a Sony that has finally recognized the value of cross-play, or at least acknowledges that it's popular enough to warrant being implemented in as many games as possible. Even when Sony began allowing for cross-play on PlayStation, it was initially limited to select games, namely really popular ones like the aforementioned Fortnite. As time has gone on, though, cross-play has become an expected standard for online multiplayer games releasing on multiple platforms.
It should be noted, however, that while Sony is more receptive to cross-play, there have been signs that Sony's change of heart wasn't motivated by simple altruism and there are still issues regarding how the feature is being handled on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The first came from the Epic Game/Apple lawsuit, which went to trial earlier this year and unearthed a lot of confidential information not meant to be seen by the public.
Among them included emails between Sony and Epic that only highlighted Sony's apparent dislike for the feature. And on top of that, the only reason Sony eventually allowed cross-play for Fortnite was that Epic paid extra compensation for it. This apparently is Sony's cross-play policy and is the only company to do this, as neither Microsoft nor Nintendo asks for additional payments to enable cross-play.
In addition, last month, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said on Twitter that while cross-play would finally be added to Borderlands 3, Sony had requested it be removed for the PlayStation versions. No reason was provided but, given what was revealed about Sony's policies, it's possible that Gearbox simply refused to pay the extra compensation. Ryan was asked about this Axios, but he said he didn't wish to discuss the issue, only saying that Sony's policies are consistent across all publishers.
Source: Axios
