Through "Fortnite," Sony Interactive Entertainment is beginning to support modes of play that connect not just PlayStation 4 users but also those on Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC and Mac.
Through "Fortnite," Sony Interactive Entertainment is beginning to support modes of play that connect not just PlayStation 4 users but also those on Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC and Mac.
Traditional console rivals PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo have long kept their multiplayer communities separate. That era may now be entering its final stage, in some instances if not in all.
It's a separation policy that has encouraged friends to stick with the same console brand should they want to play together online. Yet with the PlayStation 4 outselling Microsoft's Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch, Microsoft and Nintendo have been willing to let traditional border policies soften. That has let them score points with fans and against a more traditionally protectionist PlayStation.
"Fortnite" developer Epic Games alerted game fans to the potential of an open-borders online playground when PlayStation and Xbox players were briefly allowed to mingle in mid-September 2017. That's after "Minecraft," whose studio had been bought by Xbox manufacturer Microsoft, had already begun to integrate its iOS, Android and Windows 10 populations, adding Xbox One and Nintendo Switch communities in July 2017.
But since June 2018, when massive international hit "Fortnite" launched on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation has been under pressure to relent. The surprise launch let Switch owners join a "Fortnite" community that already had PC, mobile and Xbox One players participating in the same games.
But those that had already played on PlayStation were unable to connect their "Fortnite" accounts on Switch, and the ensuing pressure dogged Sony at June's Electronic Entertainment Expo and beyond.
Moving forward, and while cross-platform play for November's well-anticipated "Fallout 76" has been ruled out by its studio's VP of Marketing, several other existing titles suggest themselves as candidates: "Rocket League" has already demonstrated its ability to have PC players mix with Switch and Xbox communities on the one hand, and with PlayStation players on the other.
Likewise, titles like "War Thunder," "Pinball FX 3," "Trailblazers," "Paladins," "ARK: Survival Evolved" have allowed some form of cross-platform multiplayer including PC and consoles, while to date preventing PlayStation and Xbox communities to mix.
Having launched the PlayStation 4 in 2013, Sony is expected to announce a new console in 2019 or 2020; Microsoft has been blurring the lines between PC and Xbox gaming with cross-platform play for exclusives on Windows 10 and Xbox One; the Nintendo Switch, launched in March 2017, is on track to match the PlayStation 4's year-for-year sales.
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