Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has finally brought cross-play program on PlayStation 4 (PS4). It has started with Epic Games’ Fortnite cross-play for the open beta test. The news arrived as a big relief to the fans of PS4 who wanted to compete and enjoy video games with a wider audience.
The cross platforms for Fortnite gameplay include operating systems – Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac along with rival gaming consoles – Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
“We recognize 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,” wrote John Kodera, President and Global CEO, SIE on the company’s blog.
Why Did Sony Take So Long?
Sony’s PlayStation 4 is the world’s topmost selling gaming device. In recent times, the Japanese conglomerate, however, received a lot of flak from the worldwide video game publishers, developers, and players for blocking cross-play on PS4.
Earlier this year Switch and Xbox One teamed up to troll Sony’s reluctance to support cross-play through a commercial.
Sony justified the delay from the technical as well as business points of view in the PlayStation Blogcast.
“We have to make sure that if we enable this [cross-play], do we have the right customer service support, do we have the right messaging out there, do we have all these different things that you have to get in line,” said Shawn Layden, Chairman of Worldwide Studios, during his podcast appearance. “They have to go in a certain order to get them all set up.”
The cross platforms for Fortnite gameplay includes operating systems – Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac along with rival gaming consoles – Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. Source: Epic Games
How to Activate Fortnite Cross-play
The developer of Fortnite, Epic Games has released a procedure to link several Epic Accounts created to play games on different consoles.
It will roll out a system for “account merging” this November. This tool will help to combine and transfer Battle Royale game purchases made on multiple accounts to a single Epic Account.
But for now, to activate Fortnite cross-play, players can link the multiple consoles with a common Epic account, after identifying a Primary console and a Secondary one. One can find the detailed instructions about this on the developer’s website.
Epics Games emphasized, “This will NOT bring over existing purchases and progression from your other accounts; you will have to wait for the account merge feature in November for that.”
After the beta testing of Fortnite cross-play, Sony is looking forward to launch hit titles like Minecraft and Rocket League on PS4.
