Sony gets with the times, adds PS4 cross-play support, starting with ‘Fortnite’

By Steven Petite Published November 9, 2018

Fortnite Fly Explosives — Image used with permission by copyright holder

After a prolonged standoff with disappointed Fortnite players, Sony has finally reversed course on cross-play. In a blog post penned by SIE CEO and President John Kodera, Sony announced it would begin supporting cross-play with other platforms for select third-party games. Fortnite will be the first PS4 game to feature full cross-play support. An open beta for the feature kicks off today, September 26.

In explaining Sony’s new approach, Kodera wrote: “Following a comprehensive evaluation process, SIE has identified a path toward supporting cross-platform features for select third-party content. We recognize that PS4 players have been eagerly awaiting an update, and we appreciate the community’s continued patience as we have navigated through this issue to find a solution.”

Recommended Videos

As to why Sony is framing this addition as a “beta,” Kodera explained: “We see the beta as an opportunity to conduct thorough testing that ensures cross-platform play is best on PlayStation, while being mindful about the user experience from both a technical and social perspective.”

It’s nice to see Sony get on board with cross-play, even though it has taken some time for the company to get to this point. On numerous occasions over the past few months, Sony has suggested that PlayStation 4 didn’t need cross-platform play. Considering that Fortnite, the most popular game in the world, has supported cross-play across Xbox One, Switch, PC, and mobile devices for months now, Sony’s previous stance on the matter didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Kodera acknowledged how times have changed. “Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players.” Indeed, adding the PlayStation community into the overall Fortnite player pool will add a large swath of new players into the mix.

It’s unclear what other games Sony will include in the new program. One notable possibility is Rocket League. Right now, Rocket League on PS4 supports cross-play with PC but not Xbox One and Switch. Meanwhile, Switch and Xbox One users can play Rocket League together.

Sony promised to provide updates moving forward about its cross-play initiative, so hopefully we’ll start to see more PS4 cross-play support in the near future.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

Topics

Gaming

Rock Band 4 gets its final piece of DLC next week after over 8 years of support

Key art for Rock Band 4

Harmonix revealed that the January 25 DLC tracks for Rock Band 4 will be the final new ones added to the game.

This ends a streak of more than eight years of weekly DLC for the rhythm game. Ever since Rock Band 4 was released in October 2015, new DLC songs have been made available for purchase every week, giving the game one of the most impressive live service tails in the industry. Ultimately, Harmonix says it will have released nearly 3,000 songs as DLC for Rock Band 4 after the final content drop next week, and that live service support for seasons and online play will "continue as normal" after next week.

Gaming

PlayStation Plus is the perfect stocking stuffer for RPG fans this year

Yuffie holding three materia in FF7 Remake Intergrade.

I thought I had my fill of gaming subscription services. PlayStation Plus's price increase turned me off and the offerings of Xbox Game Pass never fit my fancy. While both of these have their positives, I've never been one to just drop so much money every month for a bunch of games I don't really care about. That was until I jumped into my yearly Christmas-time RPG mood and discovered the bounty of classics that's built up on PS Plus.

The First 11 Minutes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade Gameplay - 60 FPS Performance Mode

Gaming

Sony’s cloud handheld, the PlayStation Portal, will only stream certain games

Astro's Playroom booting up on the PlayStation Portal.

Sony has unveiled the price for its upcoming cloud gaming handheld, as well as an official name for the device: PlayStation Portal. However, one significant caveat to its functionality might sour people's interest in the handheld: It only supports PS4 and PS5 native games that the owner purchased.
PlayStation VR2 games can't be streamed to PlayStation Portal, which does make sense. More bafflingly, though, is the fact that the PlayStation Blog post states that "games that are streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming are not supported." That means you shouldn't pick up PlayStation Portal expecting to stream some PS3 and PS4 games available through PlayStation Plus Premium to the device. That's certainly an odd omission when it's currently PlayStation's most notable cloud gaming effort.
Although Microsoft is more closely associated with cloud gaming, Sony beat it to releasing a dedicated cloud gaming device. PlayStation Portal was first teased as Project Q during May's PlayStation showcase, but now, a PlayStation Blog post more clearly explains what we can actually expect from the handheld. Most importantly, we learned that PlayStation Portal will cost $200, which puts it underneath the cost of a Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S, and other cloud gaming devices like the Logitech G Cloud Handheld.
As for what you're getting for that price tag, it's essentially a decent screen attached to two halves of a DualSense controller. The controllers on each side share all the functionality of the DualSense, including things like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. In-between is an 8-inch LCD screen that streams games over Wi-Fi at up to a 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. All in all, that's fairly solid for a cloud gaming handheld that is this cheap.
Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Portal will have a 3.5mm audio jack, but also used the same blog post to unveil two new wireless audio options. There's the Pulse Elite wireless headset that features a retractable boom mic and a charging hanger and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds that offer similar audio quality in earbud form.
None of these products are available for preorder or have a specific release date just yet, but they are all expected to launch before the end of the year.