It an unexpected announcement, Sony has announced that they are opening up Fortnite for a Cross-Play beta that will permit players to interact with Xbox One players! The over decade long consoles war, Sony has always been the first to not open its network for this ability. However, we saw that earlier this year they had started seeing the benefits of cross-play capabilities as games like Rocket League and Fortnite were being filled with gamers across devices. I myself was amazed on playing Fortnite with a family member who was on his phone! This truly broadens the landscape for game developers to create massive fan bases.
However, given the previous stance, Microsoft’s Xbox One console had always been blocked from this abilities. I think that Sony know believes they have won the latest generations console wars and now seek to demonstrate their power. Sales of the PS4 have dominated Xbox One sales consistently since launching years ago. This now paves the way for some interesting thoughts as other popular games with fanbases split among consoles like Call of Duty and Destiny could increasingly see engagement across platform. This could be great for games that lose popularity months after launch as gamers move on to different titles.
I think this is very interesting as it was unexpected but signals a shift in Sony’s thinking. What could be the next games to feature this cross-play ability is now in every gamers minds. Now many eSports type competitive battles could not be settled as Xbox gamers have always signaled the superiority in gaming skill in games like Call of Duty. That now be a possibility to experiment with.
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