PlayStation 4 Changes Crossplay Policy, Begins Fortnite Testing (venturebeat.com)

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PlayStation 4 Changes Crossplay Policy, Begins Fortnite Testing (venturebeat.com)

Posted by msmash on Thursday September 27, 2018 @02:10AM from the better-late-than-never dept.

Sony announced this week a major policy shift regarding crossplay with other consoles. PlayStation 4 previously wouldn't allow online games to connect to Xbox One or Switch players. This week, Sony is starting a beta test for Fortnite crossplay. From a report: Crossplay between consoles once seemed like a fantasy, but Xbox One and Switch have enabled people to play together for games like Fortnite and Rocket League. PlayStation 4 would permit crossplay with PC players, but it refused to connect to other consoles. Sony's excuse stated that such crossplay would hamper its capability to deliver a consistent experience. But the decision drew criticism from PS4 fans, especially those that were angry when they tried to install Fortnite on their Switch and found out they couldn't carry over their PS4 progress.

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Sony's full of shit by TheCastro1689 · 2018-09-27 03:24 · Score: 2

Twitch was (might still be) blocked on PS4 from watching the streams of Xbox and others gameplay as well. Sony just wants to control it's ecosystem and get people to buy Sony. I'm surprised they gave into the pressure.
1. Re:Sony's full of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 04:00 · Score: 0
  
  They were always open to ways of connecting to other platforms. The objections they had revolved around not being able to have control over users on other networks and how they were reprimanded for poor behavior and cheating. Also in first party MS games requring a sign-on to Xbox Live and skipping the PSN altogether, with Sony users being beholden to a completely different set of policies they couldn't control.
2. Re:Sony's full of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 04:06 · Score: 0
  
  sony was faced with the prospect of the biggest title taking players away from its own platform in droves, along with their cut of 100s of millions in sales each month (not bad for free to play, eh?).
  fortnite battle royale is the biggest multi-platform hit of our time and is available on EVERY OTHER PLATFORM (except native linux, but wine works), including mobile. people buy devices (especially switch) just to play the game. it's a cultural phenomenon. more people play fortnite on those other platforms, than own playstations. there are twice as many fortnite players than total number of ps4 consoles ever made
  they literally had no choice. fortnite is bigger and more popular than they are, and that's not a position sony is used to. fortnite is proving mobile gaming works, and it is taking players off consoles. sony had to wave the white flag else they'd get buried in the mobile gaming revolution.
3. Re:Sony's full of shit by Opportunist · 2018-09-27 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  In reality, they just don't want people to know that their consoles are aging pretty badly.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
4. Re: Sony's full of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 07:56 · Score: 0
  
  And in 2 years a new fad will come along.
  We've been there done this already. Anybody remember PUBG?
5. Re:Sony's full of shit by CronoCloud · 2018-09-27 08:11 · Score: 1
  
  Why wouldn't that apply to the Xbox One's as well? or the Switch, which has more in common with the Vita than the PS4/Xbox
6. Re: Sony's full of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 11:12 · Score: 0
  
  ". there are twice as many fortnite players than total number of ps4 consoles ever made"
  Most of those would be alt accounts that people ditched to improve their k:d ratio. In a f2p game the number would be massive.
7. Re: Sony's full of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 11:17 · Score: 0
  
  Fortnite has pretty cartoony graphics. It's hardly taxing and has pretty low hardware requirements. Most hero shooters are the same because they want as many players to be able to play it as possible.
8. Re: Sony's full of shit by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 15:58 · Score: 0
  
  Holy s... Just get a GAMING pc already
9. Re:Sony's full of shit by Opportunist · 2018-09-27 20:08 · Score: 1
  
  Because the story is about the Sony Playstation and I try to stay on topic?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Their hand was forced by olsmeister · 2018-09-27 03:24 · Score: 1

Once other platforms start allowing crossplay, they have to as well or watch their customers migrate to where they are not as restricted.
1. Re:Their hand was forced by AmiMoJo · 2018-09-27 03:26 · Score: 2
  
  Won't PS4 players be at a big disadvantage against people using a keyboard and mouse on PC/XBOX though?
  Or can you connect a keyboard and mouse to the PS4 as well?
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
2. Re:Their hand was forced by known_coward_69 · 2018-09-27 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  if my kids' school is any indication, most fortnite players are under 12
3. Re:Their hand was forced by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:31 · Score: 0
  
  Does it support all functions, including in-game and out of game chat?
4. Re:Their hand was forced by DrXym · 2018-09-27 03:31 · Score: 1
  
  I expect more likely they got Epic to not try and fuck them over by cross promoting, or allowing PS4 players to purchase items or season passes from outside of the PSN store.
  That's essentially what it boiled down to. Epic are doing the same on Android, stepping entirely outside of the Play store so they can sell items without paying anything to Google for doing so. I imagine Sony were more than a little bit worried about the same thing happening to them.
5. Re:Their hand was forced by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:40 · Score: 1
  
  You can connect a mouse and keyboard to the ps4.
6. Re:Their hand was forced by tlhIngan · 2018-09-27 06:06 · Score: 1
  
  I expect more likely they got Epic to not try and fuck them over by cross promoting, or allowing PS4 players to purchase items or season passes from outside of the PSN store.
  That's essentially what it boiled down to. Epic are doing the same on Android, stepping entirely outside of the Play store so they can sell items without paying anything to Google for doing so. I imagine Sony were more than a little bit worried about the same thing happening to them.
  Unlike Google and Android, the PS4 is a closed ecosystem. If you do something Sony doesn't like, Sony can contractually enforce you to fix it, or unilaterally remove the game from distributi0on and likely revoke it so the next firmware version will block it.
  What's likely happened is Epic limits Fortnite to PS4 players only, while PC, Switch, mobile, Xbox, etc players are all playing together. Which means there's a ton more players of crossplay fortnite than PS4-only players.
7. Re:Their hand was forced by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 06:08 · Score: 0
  
  Ever wonder why they worry
  - Network limitations (PS4 limits network speeds for high-speed internet)
  - Controller latency (PS4 controllers when old are garbage)
  - Physical game speed (PS4 cross compilation issues)
  - PS4 server access overhead
  - PS4 aging hardware
  - Others???
8. Re: Their hand was forced by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 07:58 · Score: 0
  
  What? You sound clueless.
  All wishful thinking.
  Sony caved because they saw their playerbase shrinking as fortnite came out for more and more devices.
9. Re: Their hand was forced by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 07:58 · Score: 0
  
  Your whole list of a lie. Please provide citations.
10. Re:Their hand was forced by CronoCloud · 2018-09-27 08:21 · Score: 1
  
  I've said this many many times on Slashdot: The PS2/PS3/PS4 all have USB ports for a reason. Sony has also supported mouse and/or keyboard on their Playstation hardware LONGER than Microsoft has on the Xbox. YEARS, when Microsoft has only decided to announce support this week.The first game that will support alternate controls on Xbox will be Warframe next month. I have PS2 games with mouse/keyboard support. For both platforms, the developer has the final decision. Some games will some won't.
  On the PS4, Fortnite is one of the games that already does, in both Battle Royale and Save the World modes. In Battle Royale, if PS4 owners join a queue by using a mouse, they are queued with PC players, though at any time they can switch to controller.
  If they start a BR queue using the controller, they are queued with other console users, and may not switch to keyboard/mouse controls.
  Save the World is PVE, so controls don't matter and aren't restricted.
11. Re:Their hand was forced by CronoCloud · 2018-09-27 08:26 · Score: 1
  
  For battle royale, yes. The game has pixar-ish looking graphics so it passes the "mom glances at game to see if theres any blood/sex/pentagrams" test. Even though Battle Royale is inspired by the R-rated the film Battle Royale itself
  Really young kids shouldn't be playing since the game is T rated. If I had my druthers every kid caught playing it should be banned...permanently. They're a plague in the original Save the World mode. which is the more complex team based PVE shooter/rpg/tower/defense/sandbox mode that came FIRST.
  The BRats only play STW to earn vbucks for BR and they know jack shit about RPG's so they suck and engage in disruptive behavior.
12. Re: Their hand was forced by nmo.marques · 2018-09-27 09:19 · Score: 1
  
  They dont. Check what Chronusmax Plus is. The scourge of console gaming.
Elite: Dangerous PC/XBox/PS4/Mac crossplay? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:26 · Score: 1

Let's hope that Elite: Dangerous (the game that made the wait for Duke Nukem Forever seem like a couple of seconds) is next.
1. Re:Elite: Dangerous PC/XBox/PS4/Mac crossplay? by Tablizer · 2018-09-27 03:37 · Score: 1
  
  Crossplay? It's Dukina Nukem.
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
Is fortnite any good? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:28 · Score: 0

Is it as fun as UT 2004?
1. Re: Is fortnite any good? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 07:59 · Score: 0
  
  No. And for that matter, the original UT is better.
No, they haven't by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:28 · Score: 0

They're CONSIDERING changing it. The Fortnite thing is a "beta" and Sony can still pull the rug out from everyone and decide "we've decided we don't like cross-play, tough crap."
Even then, their decision may be limited to only Fortnite. There's no indication they have any plans to allow other games to offer crossplatform multiplayer. All they've said is that they'll "consider" it.
Video games are for children and loser adults by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:28 · Score: -1

Seriously, go outside. Meet people. Get laid! You just live once, why waste your life staring at dumb games for children?
1. Re:Video games are for children and loser adults by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:35 · Score: 0
  
  Because video games can't leave you for another person while going after you for child support, the house, and your dog. Video games can't get you killed because some drunk from out of town decided to splay their rental vehicle across your front end while the only thing that kept you and your family members alive was the fact that you had a monster H2 hummer and the drunk had a mini van. Because if you wrap your keyboard in saran wrap you won't really catch anything a quick format can fix unlike various STDs that go around and require expensive medical care.
2. Re:Video games are for children and loser adults by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:49 · Score: 0
  
  That's why I no longer watch NFL or any other sports.
3. Re:Video games are for children and loser adults by Opportunist · 2018-09-27 04:23 · Score: 1
  
  I've tried all the things you mention.
  They're overrated.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
4. Re:Video games are for children and loser adults by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 04:32 · Score: 0
  
  why waste your life staring at dumb games for children?
  It's because we have to interact with opinionated douchebags that can't even muster a modicum of politeness when interacting with fellow human beings.
  Like you.
5. Re:Video games are for children and loser adults by Ogive17 · 2018-09-27 04:43 · Score: 1
  
  Shouldn't you be outside getting laid instead of poking fun of others on /. ?
  
  --
  "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
this FP For GNNA... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 03:51 · Score: -1

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Ugh! by OrangeTide · 2018-09-27 06:43 · Score: 1

Now I have to play games with PS4 users?
Bring back the walled gardens, especially the ones that keep the riff-raff trapped inside.

--
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
1. Re:Ugh! by CronoCloud · 2018-09-27 08:31 · Score: 1
  
  It's the supposed PC Master race that's the riff raff, especially the ones outside of North America, Japan and Western Europe. Cheap-ass Brazilian/Thai/etc pirates and grimdark obsessed Russian/Polish/Hungarian/etc edgelords
2. Re:Ugh! by OrangeTide · 2018-09-27 08:34 · Score: 1
  
  It's the supposed PC Master race that's the riff raff,
  And I'm sure PS4 users believe that. ;-)
  
  --
  “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
3. Re: Ugh! by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 11:34 · Score: 0
  
  Ps4 and pc have been able to play together since fortnite came out so this article doesn't change anything about that. Some PC users prefer the controller. Fortnite is an interesting game because shooting is faster with k&m but building is faster with the controller.
4. Re:Ugh! by CronoCloud · 2018-09-27 14:00 · Score: 1
  
  you think that some tennager who plays one level of LoL over and over on a laptop is something special?
  Or the equivalent who plays the Warehouse in TF2, or de.dust in CS?
  or the Korean college dropout hopped up on Adderall playing Starcraft
  or someone who only plays WoW?
  Or what about the guys more interested in playing benchmarks for e-peen points rather than actually playing games?
  Or the guys who brag about the games they buy for 5 bucks on Steam that they never get around to playing.
  And don't get me started on the fact that vast majority of those people above are running Windows. The operating system that some Linux Elitists say is only used by idiot sheeple lusers too stupid to properly admin their own machines.
  Console gamers focus on the games, they don't go around calling PC gamers peasants or "welfare gamers" or using other slurs. Sure there's some console gamers who only do sports games or the brown shooter of the week, but many console gamers play a large and diverse set of games.
  Besides, when Yahtzee created the "Master Race" thing, he was being sarcastic and calling out PC gamers on their elitism! He's said he should have called PC gamer elitists: "PC Gaming Dick Slur All-Stars"
  So go ahead and brag about being a PC gaming dick slurper.
5. Re:Ugh! by OrangeTide · 2018-09-28 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  by idiot sheeple lusers too stupid to properly admin their own machines.
  I've not met these elitist Linux users you're talking about, but they seem like my kind of crowd.
  
  [...] de.dust in CS?
  You're supposed to play CS as a 6 hour session with de_dust2 as the only map on the server list. I don't make the rules, that's just how the game is played.
  
  Or the guys who brag about the games they buy for 5 bucks on Steam that they never get around to playing.
  I have soooo many games from Steam summer sales over the last several years. Some of them I've actually played. Most of those are trash though.
  
  Console gamers focus on the games, they don't go around calling PC gamers peasants or "welfare gamers" or using other slurs.
  Because it wouldn't make sense to call someone with a sweet rig a "welfare gamer". They stick to other slurs, or to erratic behavior.
  
  Besides, when Yahtzee created the "Master Race" thing, he was being sarcastic and calling out PC gamers on their elitism!
  Sarcastic? No way. Really? I wonder if I come off as sarcastic too. Do you? Does anyone?
  
  --
  “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
It's the money by SB5407 · 2018-09-27 07:17 · Score: 1

Straight from Sony: "we have completed a thorough analysis of the business mechanics required... (Emphasis mine) The money calculus for it being profitable for them to block the Fortnite Xbox and Switch crossplay must have shifted.
That was disappointing by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 07:45 · Score: 0

When I read ‘crossplay’ I was expecting pictures of girls dressing up as boys and vice-versa.
Ha ha ha by Anonymous Coward · 2018-09-27 13:16 · Score: 0

Ha ha ha they realised by locking people in, they were locking themselves out.