The recent reemergence of the hullabaloo concerning cross-platform play on PS4 has seen every man and his dog chime in on the how and the why of it. Most of it has been a bit tinfoil hat or filled with over the top vitriol.
Former Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley does have some inside information on the subject, however, and it sounds like the reason for Sony’s stance is a pretty simple one. Money.
Smedley, now at H1Z1 developer Daybreak (formerly SOE), replied to a tweet by Greg Miller that discussed the cross-platform play issue and revealed how Sony viewed it just a few years ago.
btw when I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money. They didn’t like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. simple as that. dumb reason, but there it is.
Smedley had previously said that fans keeping the pressure up on Sony to act was the only way to enforce change.
Now, it’s been a few years since Smedley worked with Sony, but it’s hard to imagine the reasoning is any different now given where the issue lies.
While it’s not the heinous blot on Sony’s copybook many want it to be, it is something they need to be a lot clearer on. Last week’s poor statement that brushed the question aside for some sales stats only added fuel to the burning fires of outrage.
Back in March, I said the same thing in an article about cross-platform play and also mentioned that the likes Microsoft and Epic were certainly not campaigning this for ‘the good of the gamers’ alone. It still doesn’t excuse Sony’s avoidance of the issue though.
Sony’s reason for not doing it sounds much like Microsoft’s reason for wanting it. Money.