Sony's official reasoning behind not allowing cross-play between its own console and Microsoft's on Minecraft and, more recently, Fortnite may be to 'protect' its young player base from the apparently adult influences on competing platforms, but one ex-Sony exec says that's just a smokescreen. In truth, it's all about the money.
John Smedley, the former President of Sony Online Entertainment (later renamed Daybreak Game Company), voiced his opinion on the controversy surrounding Sony's decision to prevent players from even using the same account when playing Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch, and shed some light on Sony's internal reasoning behind this bizarre decision.
btw when I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money. They didn't like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. simple as that. dumb reason, but there it is.
— John Smedley (@j_smedley) June 18, 2018
As per Smedley, Sony's decision comes from a desire to encourage gamers to stay within its own platform, and possibly even to force new console buyers to go with a PS4 instead of an Xbox One or Nintendo Switch if their friends are already aboard the PlayStation train.
Sony, for its part, had issued a statement addressing the Fortnite controversy but did or said little to address gamers' concerns, flaunting its large player base and cross-play with PC and mobile devices, while simply ignoring the question with regard to other consoles. That reluctance to address the matter may be proof enough to suggest Smedley is onto something.
Via: GameSpot
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