Sony's Lack of Support for Cross-Play Has Made Them a Villain

Sony's Lack of Support for Cross-Play - Sony continues to get ridiculed by the media and developers alike for the lack of cooperation regarding cross-play. Sony's become a villain to gamers, publishers, and developers and is hindering the progression of the gaming industry.

[HeyHeyHeyGaming]

Sony needs to adapt to stay in control of the console market.

[anakinskywalker67]

it feels like Nintendo in the 90s all over again.

[Eonjay]

They have sold 80 million consoles and now they are the enemy overnight? Okay right. Perhaps it is better to be feared.

[morganfell]

How many articles from vgculture are we going to see on this? Astroturf much?

Want to know the real villains? Ridiculous basement dwellers with a crappy website writing poorly constructed articles to serve their own ends rather than the gaming community. Sites such as vgculture are utterly clueless and ultimately a canker sore on the mouth of the game community. Here, let me give you a deserved place on my hosts file.

[dirkdady]

This is stupid the vast majority of the 80 million users don't care about cross play for Pete sake these fake jornos act like games like COD already have cross play. So fortnight gets special treatment?

I don't play fortnite so maybe I don't get it but it seems like a straw man argument to me

[Army_of_Darkness]

But does PS4 gamers really care about cross play though?? because I don't.

[Obscure_Observer]

@morganfell

Watch the heart. Lol.

Yeah, a quick look at news archive and one will quick realize that vgculturehq.com might be biased towards Microsoft and/or Nintendo.

[NewMonday]

PS4 is top dog and some just hate winners.

[UltraNova]

I just love the low grade hyperbole...Sony has done everything right by the gamer this gen. They did not try to ban used games, nor tried to introduce DRM nor did they spent the whole gen promising and underdelivering. They offered games, more games and then some more and will keep offering more until the end of this gen(like always). They risked and brought VR in consoles (a different choice for the gamer). They have crossplay with the PC in many titles. They are in a position from the get go to sit back relax and rip the benefits of being in 1st place, yet what do they do? They double down on more games. More games than anyone ever asked for.

Are they perfecr? No, no one is. But now they are evil and anticonsumer because MS and their loyal shills say so? Are people so blind to MS's Anti-Sony propaganda? Are they so easily manipulated as to make them forget MS's offering or lack thereof and stance this whole gen? Are they so blind to the fact that this crossplay thing was made into an issue by MS so the spotlight moves onto Sony instead of them?

This is beyond ridiculous. Its pathetic. Its embaressing to see so many sheep-people exist.

How could anyone forget the fact that F2P on Xbox is behind a paywall? How do they accept paying for live when on PC its free, while all their games are simultaneously released on the latter? Why arent there 10 articles a day on these long standing issues? Why wont they protest and whine about the ridiculous lack of 1st party support xbox received this gen? Why, why why...

But its ok...keep at it. Its fine. Its the norm to hate on the leader. Its fashionable. Its amusing.

[nowitzki2004]

Nintendo in the 90s? So you are saying Sony has total domination?

[fewDankMemes]

@Eonjay

LOL at your logic. "They sold 80 million consoles and are the enemy overnight"

Just like 17 million people voted for Hitler..

A bit extreme., but the logic applies that just because you have a lot of support doesn't always mean you'll be right. I swear Sony could implement a no used games policy and always online DRM at this point and you'd eat it all up.

[NewMonday]

@fewDankMemes

If someone on Xbox commits a bannable offense against someone on PS4(inevitable) would MS comply with Sony's report?

no MS would not and that alone is reason enough to avoid them.

[Eonjay]

@fewDankMemes
Wait. Sony = Hitler and the lack of crossplay = the holocaust?

The logic doesn't apply at all. You are lost. Can you discern the difference in real world terms or is this the conversation Microsoft intended for us to have?

80 million never said no because of crossplay. That is real.

[Ceaser9857361]

7th September Spiderman can't wait. While the hand few of then can cry and hate on Sony for not allowing crossplay feature and these same people won't bother when Sony gives into Crossplay..

[PUBG]

This is just the beginning. Outside of PSNow, Sony has no future vision, other than to say that they will keep making games and they will release the next Playstation console.

This is all fine and dandy for the near term, but long term, they are going to struggle. Nintendo is in somewhat of the same position, as they depend on a certain gimmick with each console generation, which is totally unpredictable, just like we witnessed with WiiU and Gamecube.

Nintendo is moving onto smart phones, and the are collaborating more with Ubisoft and Microsoft for a reason. They know that they do not have the software and networking capabilities that companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Google have, and so they are spreading themselves around to make sure that they don't get stuck on a potentially poor performing console release in the future.

[fewDankMemes]

CROSS PLAY BETWEEN CONSOLES WASN'T A THING UNTIL A FEW MONTHS AGO LOL.

Does this mean you're trying to tell me Sony has sold 80 million in a few months??

[DialgaMarine]

Yeah, because Sony not doing crossplay with other consoles is equal to Nintendo trying to monopolize the console market in the US, while treating EU gamers like they were irrelevant. Totally the same thing /s

[b777conehead]

enjoy they are a enemy to me. when I can play x box 1 games on the pc with my ds4 Bluetooth. but to do the same on pc remote play I have to buy there 40 plus adaptor. I have all 3 system and sony are greedy to not let me use my ds4 remote play bt without paying for there adaptor

[DarkVoyager]

Sony should just allow crossplay so everyone will shut up about it. I’m tired of hearing the same old story every day.

I’ll never use the feature so I could care less myself. I didn't get a PS4 to play with Xbox or Nintendo gamers.

[Muzikguy]

I don’t think that’s the right move. Sony should stand their ground and do what they want. Not what other people tell them to. They’re not doing to dramatically change the landscape or anything like that. People themselves need to just give it a rest. Putting pressure on Sony to change when there are valid reasons why they don’t, will not make them.

[MuddyWaters]

Muzikguy, what are the valid reasons, I'd love to hear them?

CNBC is also on it,
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/0...

I really don't get it, people like to play online so why be against it?

ConsoleGamer,,

Please act like a console gamer. Your reasoning is not a reason at all that you should be concerned about and sounds rather immature to be honest. Still waiting to hear a valid point from any gamer.

[ConsoleGamer]

Muddy

The nr 1 valid reason would be that they can't let microsoft (which has no idea how to handle the console business and be succesfull without selling gamers 2 to 3 times the same faulty console AND in addition is using shady and dirty tactics to push their agendas, has the a low output of videogames of which the atleast the recent were of subpar quality) dictate how sony (which were successful since their first console and even their worst selling console selling 80 million units, has the highest amount of highly talented studios who create some of the most regarded videogames in the industry) has to run their business. That would send a wrong signal for the future. So ms would learn that all they have to do to influence sony to ms' favor is to launch a pr campaign.

[The_Jackel]

@muddywaters
they aint againts cross play, sony has been doing it alot longer then that of ms.
ms would have gone to sony like they did nintendo but put in their terms and conditions which would be for crossplay they need a xbl account just like on nintendo. and ms will be pushing this issue thinking sony will fold. but ms is wrong sony will do it but it cant be a one way street for ms. if ms wanted it thry could have had it last gen but refused.
also if im not mistaken isnt cnbc owned or in partnership with ms? making that article you posted the typicle ms stratergy they always try to pull.
cross play good feature but not needed, not on playstation anyway even though playstation already does it.

[Muzikguy]

CNBC isn’t “on it”. They’re just running with a controversial story for viewers/readers. I don’t know Sony’s reasons but they must have them to not allow it. Think about it though, they stand to lose more than gain so why would they? And honestly, they could be sour over last gen still. It does NOT matter to most about crossplay. If I wanted to play with Xbox people I’d buy an Xbox.

I’m not going to claim what their motives are I’m just saying that it’s not a big deal. Sony provides games and that’s all that matters. I guarantee if MS were in the lead this gen this wouldn’t even be a story.

@console

You make some interesting points. Just like Ms throwing money at things hoping they produce. Now the talk is Google because they’ve got money, but it takes more than money to create what Sony has

[ConsoleGamer]

@muddy

"ConsoleGamer,,

Please act like a console gamer. Your reasoning is not a reason at all that you should be concerned about and sounds rather immature to be honest. Still waiting to hear a valid point from any gamer."

I am a gamer and i'm happy what sony offers me for my hard earned money. I have nothing against crossplay in general but it would be a shame if a shady company like ms has too much influence over sony who atleast maintain a healthy symbiosis with the consumer (aka providing us with high quality games, what GAMERS should care about.) instead of trying to suck money from their consumers without being willing to actualy to provide a decent amount of games in return, as one of the richest companies in the world.

[Hardiman]

Then they'd get back on BC, the power of the X or exclusives don't sell consoles lol!

[Dragonscale]

@muddy, one reason, microsoft and thats all they need.

[bigmalky]

Maybe people should just flag the users who are recommending them for spamming the site with the same old crap daily.

[fewDankMemes]

The people that don't care about cross play don't have friends. It's as simple as that.

[trooper_]

@ Muddy: Sony doesn't trust Microsoft, period. That's a possible reason.

[NealGamby]

I have a theory as to why you only started hearing about this after Fortnite was released on Switch. Think about it. Cross play wasn't available between PS4 and Xbox but you never heard anyone complaining. They only started "complaining" after it became available on the Switch because Xbox fans would have looked like they would rather play it on the PS4, if they complained beforehand. However, after it was released on Switch, they could complain to their hearts desire because it would no longer make them look bad. So in essence, it's just Xbox fans trying to cause fake outrage to make the enemy look bad. Make sense?

[sampsonon]

if they have cross play i will not be buying those games.

[bluefox755]

All Sony needs to do is keep making the best games on the market, which they've been doing consistently. I'm not against crossplay, but this idea that people actually care about crossplay, and it will affect their purchasing decisions is just laughable. Let's be honest here, if crossplay had ANY effect on Sony's bottom line, they would have done it already. The fact is, the vast majority of people simply don't care about crossplay. Sorry, that's just the reality of it.

[MuddyWaters]

Sony cares, which is why they offer it with PC and Mobile. If nobody cares then why would they purposely block the feature for console crossplay? Sorry, you can't have it both ways.

[UCForce]

Sony isn’t perfect for sure, but calling Sony a “villain” is a hypocrite from journalist.

[gamer7804]

why in the world would you be against crossplay, it should go without saying that no one should be against it. I get that some people "don't care" , but there are lots of others that do, including myself. sure I have lots of Rando's I can play with, but I have some friends that only play on one console, or have already bought the game on one console and don't want to buy it again.

[FGHFGHFGH]

@ Muddywates

well ps4 players have to pay to play multiplayer, so they are not going to let xbox players play for free. So if they do allow it, than someone is going to have to pay up.

[PurpHerbison]

You really don't want a bigger pool of players in competitive games? More competition is awesome and being able to rep your console of choice while diving into that competition is even better.

[sampsonon]

"I'm not buying a ps4 because it won't have cross play."

"wait what!? spider man, the last of us 2, ghost of tsushima, days gone, death stranding and god of war?
hell yeah!, where can buy one?"

so when will MS allow cross play with Steam? they should let Valve have their coding so they can play xbox games on Steam for free, and buy games at half price.

oh! and by the way, Sony has more cross play than the rest.

as posted by TheLethalDiva :

"Helldivers is the best, that has ps3, ps4, and vita crossplay and crossbuy.

Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator and BlazBlue: Central Fiction

DC Universe Online - And its free, starts off pretty cool and I really like the character creation process, ultimately feels a bit dated. I had a hard time really getting into it, just feels meh to me. Alot of people swear by it though and I suppose it could grow on you in time.

Toukiden 2 comes out first quarter 2017, that looks really cool and is going to be crossplay

Other games that supposedly have crossplay, but I haven't played yet...

Alien Breed

Atomic Ninjas

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma EXTEND

DiveKick

Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends (PS4/Vita/PS3)

Final Fantasy XIV (PS3/PS4)

Gundam Breaker 2

Hustle Kings (PS4/PS3/Vita)

Invokers Tournament (Free)

Natural Doctrine

Nidhogg

Skullgirls 2nd Encore (PS3/PS4/Vita)

Spelunky (PS4/Vita) or (PS3/Vita)

Switch Galaxy Ultra

Terraria (PS4/PS3/Vita)

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate (PS4/PS3/Vita)

Zombie Tycoon 2: Brainhov’s Revenge"

MS - better catch up eh?

[Muzikguy]

No they don’t! Many times you adapt you lose your identity.

It sure is nice to see more no name sites getting in on this crossplay nonsense 🙄. Give it a rest already

[MuddyWaters]

Ahh I see, so third party games allowing crossplay with PC and Mobile gives them identify but blocking it with other consoles loses it? Great mental gymnastics you got there.

[UCForce]

They won’t stop it until Sony being force to open cross platform. Will they do it ? Might be, but Sony isn’t going to jump on boat right away.

[MuddyWaters]

UCForce
"They won’t stop it until Sony being force to open cross platform. Will they do it ? Might be, but Sony isn’t going to jump on boat right away."

It is always about money. Sony is not your friend, Microsoft is not your friend and neither is Nintendo.

What Sony is acting like is that this is a race, it is not a race. Why would you want a blemish to carry into next generation if you don't have to? The problem is Sony is taking this rather personal because I don't see any other reason why they are being so standoffish about it all. If anyone has built great relations with third party it is Sony which is why this is very baffling. I think too many suits are now running the show and the down to earth Sony we saw in the beginning of this generation is now gone. We seen it at this years E3 too, they are starting to lose touch with the common people.

Villain is a strong word but the media likes to hype things up, just like many of you who do this as well on how when one is the winner in sales that means all the rest are losers.

[Muzikguy]

@Muddy

No you’re the one doing gymnastics. I’m talking about Sony, not the third parties. Sony doesn’t need to adapt to anything because then they’ll be lost in a sea of “everything is the same” therefore losing their identity. If they don’t want crossplay they don’t want it. I feel like that should be the end of discussion.

[MuddyWaters]

"No you’re the one doing gymnastics. I’m talking about Sony, not the third parties."

Nobody expect to crossplay God of War with Switch and Xbox one. We are clearly talking about third party titles here so yes, you are indeed doing full on mental gymnastics. Sony isn't going to lose its identify to do console crossplay and they certainly didn't lose their identity by offering crossplay with PC and Mobile.

You started this conversation they should not adapt, which makes no sense. They have already adapted, just not fully. I also don't need to hear from you why Sony is against it, you need to speak on behalf of yourself. If you don't care about the feature that's fine but what is bad about an option to enable it just like you already have an option to enable it now with PC and Mobile?

[UCForce]

@Muddywater “It is always about money. Sony is not your friend, Microsoft is not your friend and neither is Nintendo.” Ok, then why you defending on MS all the way ? You could ask the same question about me, but I already said it with my comments history, so I’m not gonna repeat it. Yes, Sony is corporation just like MS and Nintendo which I awere that these companies care about profits. But like I said before, Sony isn’t going to jump on the boat right away. Sony might do that in the future. But for me, online gaming is afterthought and I more care about single player games. As long Sony keep making great PS4 Exclusive, i won’t care about online gaming.

I know you are going to laugh at me and saying that i’m talking nonsense and calling me “Sony” shill or something those lines. But the true is that, I don’t care about online gaming from the beginning. Back then, I thought online gaming was just simple and basic, but now online gaming is just nonsensical to me.

[TheCommentator]

@ Musikguy

When logic gives way to WTF: "Sony doesn’t need to adapt to anything because then they’ll be lost in a sea of 'everything is the same' therefore losing their identity."

OMG, you're SO RIGHT, if Sony allows 3rd party console crossplay then surely their 1st party exclusives will become meaningless and their identity will be gone FOREVER. /s

LOL, how do you people dream up this nonsense???

[Muzikguy]

@Muddy

I’m telling you, you just don’t want to listen. YES, a company that conforms will indeed lose their identity. They don’t need to offer crossplay. That’s it. That’s me telling you what you don’t want to hear so you don’t listen and keep asking for a different response. I don’t care about the feature. Never have. Obviously
There are reasons Sony feels the same. Is just leave it alone and move on. If you want to play with the PS fam then get a PS4. You should get over those gymnastics too because you’re not making much sense anymore. I’m talking about Sony NOT a third party. When Epic makes its own game system then they can do crossplay with everyone if they want to. It’s Sony’s console last I checked

[MuddyWaters]

UCForce
"But for me, online gaming is afterthought and I more care about single player games. As long Sony keep making great PS4 Exclusive, i won’t care about online gaming.
I know you are going to laugh at me and saying that i’m talking nonsense and calling me “Sony” shill or something those lines. But the true is that, I don’t care about online gaming from the beginning. Back then, I thought online gaming was just simple and basic, but now online gaming is just nonsensical to me."

The only time your preference would be a problem is if you vehemently defend them, are you? That is where the question arises because you say you don't care about online, so why do you have a dog in this fight? If you don't care then you don't care but your comments show otherwise.

Muzikguy
"I’m telling you, you just don’t want to listen. YES, a company that conforms will indeed lose their identity. They don’t need to offer crossplay. That’s it. That’s me telling you what you don’t want to hear so you don’t listen and keep asking for a different response. I don’t care about the feature. Never have. Obviously
There are reasons Sony feels the same. Is just leave it alone and move on. If you want to play with the PS fam then get a PS4. You should get over those gymnastics too because you’re not making much sense anymore. I’m talking about Sony NOT a third party. When Epic makes its own game system then they can do crossplay with everyone if they want to. It’s Sony’s console last I checked"

To break it down what you are trying to say is voice chat made them lose their identity, Sony lost even more of its identity when they started charging for online. Going crossplay with PC and Mobile didn't lose their identity. Yup, that makes perfect sense.

As for leaving it alone, that's not how progression works. Sony's stance is anything but progressive. In fact it's counter productive. Maybe you should leave it alone, unless you want to keep your identity.

[Aceman18]

Yyyyyyyaaaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnn

They'll activate when its beneficial to them.

We all know the reason why M$/Ninty teamed up is because M$ needs bodies to fill their servers, and Ninty has the sh*ttiest of online services.

So stop pushing pushing this its benefits gamers crap, all these companies see is $$$$$$$ period end of discussion.

Also where's this fake outrage for FF14 not being on the xbox without crossplay? I know SE pitched it to M$, and predictable enough M$ said no they wanted their own servers for their gamers to which SE said NO.

[Muzikguy]

More people should read your comment. Seriously, MS and Nintendo aren’t the heroes in this.

[letsa_go]

They should rename it to Xbox Dead instead of Xbox Live, because the servers are deserted!

[tulholdren]

I was wonder that too no one saying anything about FF14 on Xbox must be because they know why and only want to talked about bad things that Sony does in their eyes.

[Brazz]

Sony doesn't need to do @#$#@ about crosplay whit xbox and nity. Sony already can make crossplay whit pc, android, ios and they are leaders in sales by a long shot! For some reason media outlets are making a big deal of this, and some are even saying that playstation is "isolated and alone", but this is #$#@$#!
Sony got more players than xbox and nity, playstation is the console that dominates in number of players, they don't need crossplay, on the other hand, i'm sure the other two would love crossplay since their user base is so small compared to playstation user base.

[neutralgamer1992]

Hey

They are winning every month and selling the most software of that's not control than I don't know what it

Anak

Nothing changed for Nintendo they are still doing their stubborn things by not making it easy for consumers to have the games on bluray because they don't want to pay Sony

Morgan

They are so desperate to play with us man. Sony actually has data stats to know how many gamers actually use this feature of this was such a huge feature why is ps4 outselling Xbox one and switch

EON

Are you looking for logic from these sort of articles

[UCForce]

As long Sony is doing well, they aren’t going to jump “cross play” thingy right away. And I hope they keep making great exclusive games.

[Eonjay]

True

[Bathyj]

https://goo.gl/images/aVcig...

[Inzo]

Nope, Sony IS in control of the gaming market and will stay in control of the gaming market by doing one thing and that is produce great quality games, which they are. That is all a true gamer cares about, we dont care about cross-play, we dont care about apps, we dont care about features because while they are nice to have its the games that matter.

[UNCHARTED2FANATIC]

Thats actually what could be said about sony's competitors since sony is in the strong lead

[shinoff2183]

I don't play online but I belive you are alright. Unfortunately there are alot of fickle people out there that will go out of there way to trash a company they wouldn't even buy product from to begin with

[G3ng4r]

Sony is the good guy! Everyone is picking on playstation and it is REALLY hurting my feelings.

[UCForce]

Sony is not good guy and neither MS and Nintendo. But calling Sony a “villain” is just hypocrites and pathetic from journalists. Yeah, don’t be delusional, here,buddy.

[Rude-ro]

Sony has 40 crossplay titles.
Microsoft has 17/ish
Nintendo 14

[leoms]

hmm? Who's currently in control of the console market?

[trooper_]

People need to stop telling Sony how to run their business.

Again, if crossplay with Microsoft was a huge necessity, Sony would have followed through already.

[uth11]

if Sony allows crossplay, they will lose a bunch of sales and they know it. everyone who chooses a console based on what their friends play..

i guarantee that's a bigger market share than 'people so pissed off about crossplay that they are abandoning Sony'

[killswitch80]

no they don't ..this is just Microsoft and Nintendo ganging up and having their friends at Bethesda join in. Its the only play these guys have because Sony is just murdering them and rightfully so. Not a fanboy I am a multi platform fan boy

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

They don't need to but they should. But I also think they should wait until the next gen to do so at a grander scale. I mean they already have a bunch of cross-play with Steam and with Xbox is the next step. But they need to make sure that they are not taken advantage of, the structure needs to be even at financial and gameplay level between X and PS.

[madpuppy]

Sony is doing just fine, Cross play is not some watershed issue that is going to make or break console gaming. Only the loud mouthed minority make it seem like it is, If I had a choice of the PlayStation and it's wide array of gaming choices and Exclusive titles or MS with it's virtually non existent Exclusive line up and grandiose promises that go nowhere as well as cross play with Nintendo and the PC, Ill take The PlayStation EVERY TIME and I believe that the smart gamer as well as the Average Consumer that has done their research will choose the PlayStation brand as well.