Sony caves: PlayStation cross-play is coming, starting with Fortnite

Android Authority

• Sony will finally allow PlayStation cross-play with a beta feature rolling out now.
• The first game to allow cross-play on the PlayStation 4 is Fortnite, which will allow Android users to compete with PS4 users for the first time.
• This is a huge shift for Sony, as the company has fought cross-play of any kind for years.

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It appears that Hell hath frozen over, as Sony announced today on the PlayStation blog that it is rolling out a PlayStation cross-play beta. The first game that will allow for competitive play regardless of the systems players are using will be Fortnite.

This means that — for the first time ever in Android’s ten-year history — gamers on Android systems will be able to compete with gamers on PlayStation systems.

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While it’s pretty obvious that the popularity of Fortnite and the support of cross-play on pretty much every system aside from the PlayStation 4 is what brought about this change, it appears that Fortnite won’t be the end. According to the blog post, Sony intends to bring PlayStation cross-play to other games:

For 24 years, we have strived to deliver the best gaming experience to our fans by providing a uniquely PlayStation perspective. Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players. In recognition of this, we have completed a thorough analysis of the business mechanics required to ensure that the PlayStation experience for our users remains intact today, and in the future, as we look to open up the platform…We will update the community once we have more details to share, including more specifics regarding the beta timeframe, and what this means for other titles going forward.

For years now, pretty much every major console has allowed cross-play of some kind, with Sony being the only holdout. This update today represents a seismic shift in gaming at large, as it will now be very difficult for any gaming platform to not support cross-play.

What other games are you looking forward to getting cross-play features? Sound off in the comments!

NEXT: Fortnite Mobile on Android: Here are the compatible phones

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