Layden, speaking with Game Informer, offered the most progressive response to cross-play that Sony has had as of yet. Up to this point, cross-play on the PS4 has been considered a feature in a beta state, with its future unclear. Yet Layden says that Sony is on the same page as its players:
Layden goes on the claim that Sony was faster to come to this conclusion than many online assume, but that, “it’s not just like flipping a switch.” Sony has been thoroughly evaluating the ramifications of cross-play, cross-purchase, cross-progress, and how they affect scalability and security. Fortnite, Layden says, has reached that level of confidence, while Rocket League is still in progress despite being fully cross-play enabled already.
Everything Layden is saying up to this point is certain to be welcome news to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One players alike. But the lingering question is why, if Sony is truly moving forward on cross-play, only Fortnite and Rocket League support it. Surely if Sony is fine approving cross-play, other games would have taken advantage of the feature by now. Layden’s explanation doesn’t necessarily clarify the situation:
The situation is, according to Layden, that Sony is “open for business” on cross-play and has no “gating factor” to prevent developers from implementing it in their own games. Developers just have to work with their PlayStation account managers to make it happen.
But something still doesn’t seem right about what Layden’s saying. If what he’s said is correct, that means that the reason that console cross-play isn’t widespread on PS4 yet is that game developers aren’t pursuing it like how Epic Games and Psyonix have. That seems difficult to believe, considering the very public stances of developers including War Thunder’s Gaijin Entertainment and Smite and Paladins creator Hi-Rez Studios. Either these studios aren’t being truthful about pursuing cross-play on PS4 or Layden’s not being truthful about existing “gating factors.”
Given the circumstances, it’s easier to believe the developers whose businesses could benefit significantly by implementing cross-play rather than Sony, who has up to this point been one of cross-play’s most vocal opponents. Luckily for Sony, it’s a relatively simple thing to correct in the public’s eyes. Just fast-track a few more cross-play games on PS4 and the truth will be self-evident.
Source: Game Informer
