It's been having a negative impact on Sony's image for some months now, and seeing the non-stop criticism and the huge number of requests by players owning both PS4s and/or other consoles, the company has decided to change its cross-platform policy. Starting today.
SIE president and CEO John Kodera himself has made it official over on the PS Blog: PlayStation will be embracing cross-platform features as of today, which means support for cross-play, cross-save and more between PS4 and systems beyond PC, including Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Kodera explains "SIE has identified a path toward supporting cross-platform features for select third party content", admitting that "PS4 players have been eagerly awaiting an update, and we appreciate the community's continued patience as we have navigated through this issue to find a solution".
The strategy shift has begun today with the release of an open beta for Epic Games' Fortnite supporting "cross-platform gameplay, progression, and commerce across PlayStation 4, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Mac operating systems".
Sony considers this as a testing ground in terms of quality of experience, and will monitor it "from both a technical and social perspective" - the latter being the alleged reason not to support the feature back in the day. In the end, the CEO recognises that they "look to open up the platform".
Beta timing, final release for the feature on Fortnite, and the addition of new titles to the scheme will be announced soon. This can only be good news, however, as not only does it mean users of existing games will benefit, but Sony just opened the door for those projects kept on hold due to their previous policy, with Final Fantasy XIV on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One a clear example.