‘Money’ Is Why Sony Is Blocking Crossplay, Says Former SOE President

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The reason Sony won’t allow crossplay on the PlayStation 4 console with its Microsoft and Nintendo rivals is simple, according to former Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley. It’s all about the money.

“When I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money,” he tweeted on Monday. “They didn’t like someone buying something on a Xbox and it being used on a PlayStation. Simple as that. Dumb reason, but there it is.”

While the PlayStation 4’s lack of crossplay is nothing new, controversy over the issue reignited after Epic Games’ popular battle royale title “” launched on Nintendo Switch on June 12. People who previously created Epic Games accounts for PS4 discovered those accounts won’t work with the Switch version, which means they can’t carry over any of their existing items or progression. “Fortnite” on Switch does support crossplay with Xbox, PC, and mobile.

After being flooded with complaints, Sony responded by saying it’s “always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience.” “With … more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we’ve built a huge community of gamers who can play together on ‘Fortnite’ and all online titles,” it said in a statement. “We also offer ‘Fortnite’ cross-play support with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, expanding the opportunity for ‘Fortnite’ fans on to play with even more gamers on other platforms.”

Meanwhile, Smedley believes Sony could cave and allow crossplay on PS4 if consumers demand it.

“If we keep the pressure up this problem goes away,” he said.