Sony Offers a Morsel of Hope for PS4 ‘Fortnite,’ Crossplay

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Sony is “looking at a lot of the possibilities” when it comes to crossplay on the PlayStation 4. At least, that’s what president and CEO of Interactive Entertainment America Shawn Layden recently told Eurogamer at the Gamelab conference in Spain.

“We’re hearing it,” Layden said when asked whether or not Sony is listening to its fans. “We’re looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I’m confident we’ll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business.”

Sony has weathered a lot of criticism recently over how it’s handling crossplay with its console competitors, especially with the launch of “” on Nintendo Switch. Switch owners can play the popular online battle royale game with others on PC, Mac, Xbox One, and mobile devices. Sony, however, refuses to allow crossplay on its platform, forcing many PS4 “Fortnite” fans to create brand new accounts on Switch and lose all of their previously hard-earned progress and cosmetics.

Sony issued a statement earlier this month saying it’s “always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience.” Layden’s comment on Wednesday was the first official one from the company since then.

This is not the first time Sony has faced criticism over its stance on crossplay. It also refused to implement the feature in popular online games like “Minecraft” and “Rocket League.”