New comments from PlayStation boss Jim Ryan suggest that Sony is working to shed its image as something of a cross-play curmudgeon.
New comments from PlayStation boss Jim Ryan suggest that Sony is working to shed its image as something of a cross-play curmudgeon.
During a recent interview with Axios, Ryan indicated that Sony wants even more PlayStation titles to support cross-play, and that the company is actively encouraging its inclusion.
"We support and encourage cross-play," explained Ryan, pointing to how the company helped facilitate cross-play in titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and more. "That number will only continue to grow."
Ryan's remarks imply there's been a rather siesmic mindset shift at the PlayStation maker, which was initially reluctant to allow cross-play on its platforms.
Earlier this year, for instance, court documents and comments from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney that surfaced during the Epic vs Apple trial indicated that Sony only agreed to support cross-play in Fortnite after agreeing a unique compensation package with Epic.
Back in 2018, Microsoft also implied that Sony was the one blocking cross-play between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners, and made a public offer to work with the company to bridge the divide.
"We've worked closely with Nintendo to allow cross-network play between Xbox One and Switch and our offer to do the same with PlayStation players still holds," said Microsoft at the time.
Sony indicated it was hesitant to support cross-play because it had a "responsibility" to its own install base. Of course, it eventually relented on the issue to help bring cross-play to select titles, and now appears to have changed its outlook entirely.
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