Fortnite Is so Big It Can Bully Sony and Nintendo

Fortnite is leading the charge in getting first-party developers to rethink their dumb decisions.

[PhoenixUp]

Yet it still hasn’t convinced Microsoft to drop the BS policy of locking F2P games behind a subscription paywall.

[darthv72]

People complained about F2P behind the paywall before but now that Sony has allowed Fortnite to be the starting point for CP then its only obvious the call to MS will pick up steam again.

One step at a time.

[Imalwaysright]

That's not on fortnite or Epic. That's on us for supporting it as we supported an even worst practice which is letting these companies forcing us into paying to play games we paid for. These companies will go as far as we allow them to so if we didn't come together and said no to having games we paid for behind a paywall, are we going to come together when f2p games are behind a paywall? I doubt it.

[TekoIie]

"That's on us for supporting it as we supported an even worst practice which is letting these companies forcing us into paying to play games we paid for."

THIS +++++

We seriously need to get on Sony, MS and Nintendo for keeping online multiplayer behind a paywall. If I pay full price for a game I should get full access to it without needing to be a subscriber to another service. The desperate defence made by some who bring up F2P games is lame. You're still blocked from playing 90% of the big releases Multiplayer portions if you don't open your wallet.

[rainslacker]

I think these publishers would be more against f2p behind a pay wall compared to being for cross play or progression. The pay wall will actually keep people away from playing their game, whereas the cross play really doesn't seem to have any effect on sales or player engagement

I'm actually surprised this never became a big issue with publishers back when it was for any mp play, but at the time, there was no other choice for a next gen console, and then it caught on so the publishers never made a fuss, because they seemed to quickly be all about ms, although I have no idea how they became so suddenly adored by so many so quickly since they hadn't done much to earn that kind of respect up to that point

[Muckspread]

Honestly, who doesn't have a PSN or XBL account anyway?

Maybe people who only play single player games, which Fortnite most certainly isn't.

The people complaining here, I guarantee, already pay for a sub or don't even own a X1. All these big grown up hardcore gamers on N4G complaining about Fortnite. Rather, using Fortnite as another cheapshot at MS.

[OneLove]

Facts. You might as well not have a console if you dont have a XBL or PSN account. Go PC and see how that works out for ya.

[rainslacker]

On both consoles, roughly half the install base, if not less has a paid account. This is from reports that have come out over the past couple years.

But I would agree that the people here probably have a paid sub. Personnly, I have one for ps+, which I maintain for the free games, but never had a xbl sub outside the free trial that came with the system.

Not that I'm complaining about it much, or at all. But would be good for ms to remove to get more support. I do think that it probably isn't that big of a deal though, but why not pressure them to change it

[rainslacker]

That's because fortnite isn't bullying anyone. Fortnite is the current bug game, but these console makers have been around long enough to not just give in because something is popular for the moment.

Epic games is very influential though. They didn't bully Sony or nintendo into anything. They worked with them to make it happen, or these companies worked independently to achieve it and fortnite got to be a test bed, which makes sense since it's the biggest game out right now. A few years ago it probably would have been destiny or overwatch

[chrisoadamson]

who owns a concole in 2018 WITHOUT LIVE or PSN???? try harder... its a non issue

[stuna1]

Believe what you want! Sony isn't being bullied into anything. My guess is the Pro's far outweigh the Con's.

[SuperSonic91]

Thats gaming journalism cancer desperate for clicks.

[TekoIie]

It's cancerous that they gave you an option? You can now choose crossplay if you're interested in it and if you weren't then that's fine. Just opt out.

[Kribwalker]

I don’t believe they bullied sonys . I think Sony saw enough demand from their fan base that it warranted them to change their policy

[DarkVoyager]

“I think Sony saw enough demand from their fan base that it warranted them to change their policy“

All I seen was Xbox fans begging for crossplay. PlayStation fans were busy playing great games.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

You weren't paying attention, then; there were floods of ps fanboys around the articles here recently, acting like this would ruin the PS4 if it ever came to pass, and lashing out violently at anyone who even HINTED at supporting it.

Many normal PS fans did show vocal desire/support for this.
The elitist fanboys fought tooth and nail against it.

The fanboys lost.

[DarkVoyager]

“The fanboys lost“

I didn’t lose anything because I could give a crap about crossplay.

[Kiwi66]

So you didn't see the articles about devs asking for crossplay also ?

[sampsonon]

sony just destroyed their brand.

[Vasto]

"PlayStation fans were busy playing great games." LMAO

Talk about head totally in the sand. /SMH

Still just cant admit that Sony changed this because they really had no choice. Gamers of all brands want crossplay. Developers and publishers have been very vocal crossplay. Could have sworn we just had an article from Bethesda saying that Fallout 76 might not even release on a platform that does not have crossplay. Articles everywhere asking Sony why they wont support crossplay and yet this fanboy still tries to blame Xbox.

Xbox has full crossplay with Switch and PC so why would they complain?

A week ago Sony said they dont support crossplay because PlayStation is the best place to play. LMAO, that comment did not age well at all. Just a small company that thinks they are bigger than what they are and had to reminded.

Now back to playing great games on my Xbox One X with Game Pass.

[badz149]

@Vastro

you're the definition of chronic xbone troll!

what do you mean by "head in the sand"? I think it's yours that's actually buried too deep inside MS's bum to see that sales of PS exclusive have gone through the roof this year. so far only FC5 is selling more than GoW and Spider-man but that is about to change fast! PS4 gamers even buy more SotTR than xboners even with Spider-man around. Detroit has also sold a decent amount for QD.

"Could have sworn we just had an article from Bethesda saying that Fallout 76 might not even release on a platform that does not have crossplay."

LOL talk about your head being buried too deep! that was Bethesda saying FO76 will not have crossplay even if Sony already allowed it. not even between consoles and PC which has been a big thing since last gen! Todd Howard really like it when you kiss his bum like that! FANBOY!

I'm looking forward to reading articles about how Bethesda is anti-consumer because they don't allow crossplay! and how MS is anti-consumer by locking F2P games behind paywall! these hypocritical journalist have lots to make up to now!

[EmperorDalek]

You didn't lose anything, yet you seem rather pissed off over it. Can't handle the fact that PS4 users were generally for cross-play? That's rather sad.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Yea you're right. Damn all those Xbox gamers flooding the PlayStation Blog with crossplay requests. Keep feeding the meter.

[chrisoadamson]

this guy lol

[salmonade]

That is total BS. It was the vocal minority and gaming websites pushing an agenda. Anytime you can trash on a popular gaming company on your website, it will generate clicks and fanboys. I fully expect sites to now attack Microsoft for making people PAY money to play a free-to-play game online. They will come.

[Kribwalker]

and i’ll agree with those articles too. I’m a gamer, and i’m all for what’s best for that. Crossplay is, ftp not behind a paywall is too.

Twitter was loaded with people upset about it. Resetera was loaded with people upset about it. This was the only place i’ve been that more people weren’t upset about it. Devs were upset. Look at Psyonix. They’ve been talking about it since 2 years ago. Big time PS streamers were threatening to no longer stream fortnite on their PS4s

People everywhere else were upset about it

[SuperSonic91]

MS regrets paying millions for PUBG.

[Kribwalker]

games been in the top 10 for almost the entire year in the UK. why would they be upset about that?

[Muckspread]

All I saw for the past lot of weeks here was how the Ps4 fanbase couldn't care less about crossplay

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Pfff, bullying now?
Convincing a company to reverse a bad move isn't bullying; it's progress.
If this is considered bullying, then I hope we eventually "bully" one or more of the consoles into offering online multiplayer outside of their subscription services.XD [Or, on a more realistic note, "bully" Nintendo into putting normal chat in their online games]

[TekoIie]

Yeah seriously need to bully Nintendo into sorting out their online. You know seeing that the only people complaining about Sony's crossplay policy were MS fanboys we should probably hire them to help us with sorting Nintendo out/s

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Putting the /s aside, there were also plenty of Sony fans rallying behind cross console play, too.
It was a community-wide effort, one that I hope can be replicated to get ftp games out of Microsoft's paywall, as well as to put regular chat into Nintendo games like MK8. [the chat app is better than expected but it's still not as convenient as ingame chat.]

[ThatOneRiggaNob]

or maybe the people complaining weren't just xbox fanboys but fans of gaming in general who enjoyed the idea of being able to play with their friends no matter what platform they were on? Is it impossible that someone opposing Sony's initial choice on crossplay isn't actually a fanboy of MS?

[TekoIie]

@wonderfulmonkeyman

Oh i know im just mocking the conspiracy theorists saying the only people complaining were fanboys. If it were true then those MS fanboys get shit done lol.

@ThatOneRiggaNob

Agreed +++

[Rachel_Alucard]

@ThatOneRiggaNob

Agreed, and I haven't been on an Xbox in 5 years. The whole logic of "If you support cross-play you are an Xbox fanboy" is just massive fanboying for Sony ironically. The fact Jim Sterling made 3 videos about cross play and Sony refusing to play ball coupled with the other big youtubers videos definitley shows this wasn't some vocal minority. It's like talking to an Ostrich on this site.

[Zeldafan64]

I love Nintendo but making you use your phone for online chat is stupid.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Agreed.
The saving grace for it is that it functions well, both for friends and randoms, and that using it frees up operating power for the games themselves, but it's still not as convenient as ingame chat.

[rainslacker]

Well...Sony surrendered, and now they were bullied.

Kind of stupid assumption if you Ask me. You'd think think these bigger websites would know that things in the industry aren't like a day time soap opera in how they play out.

Or better yet, they could maybe work to get an interview to talk about why the change came about...or spent the last two years doing more than reporting on tweets, and instead do what they should be doing now, which is seeking comment or doing some journalistic investigation.

Call.me crazy for thinking that to be a journalist, one should at least be able to do more than write some words, but take the time to make sure those words are meaningful, accurate, and relevant...and not just some form of speculation on the authors part

[FallenAngel1984]

“Fortnite is so pervasive that it’s currently the only game in the world that is being sold in bundles with all three major consoles – despite being a free-to-play game.”

That’s no small feat. I think it’s the first time in history where one game has been featured as a bundle for every hardware manufacturer at a given time.

“Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all recognize the influence it has and want the Fortnite logo on their box, and they’re clearly willing to compromise previously held policies or decisions to make Epic comfortable.”

Well not all of them. Microsoft continues to lock access to Fortnite’s multiplayer behind a paywall despite it being a free to play game, and the most popular one at that.

[Muckspread]

Didn't Minecraft come bundled with all consoles at one point? I may be wrong.

[FallenAngel1984]

Nope

[PapaBop]

Epic must love all this coverage, being used as a platform to attack Sony and now that Sony have opened the doors, it's all about the power of Fortnite.

[Kaii]

Hopefully, server settings disallow users using kb+m to play against controller users.

[Platformgamer]

fortnite became a cancer

[CrimsonWing69]

Right because Sony consumers didn’t have any sway about it...

[Chocoburger]

(*sigh*) Am I the only one tired of constantly seeing this game in the news all the time? There's so many other games that could be discussed rather than this one.

[Razmiran]

Its the game that gathered the demand necesary to get sony to change their stance in regards to crossplay
Id say it deserves to be discussed

[one2thr]

Im tired of it to, and now people are leeching on it to push their medium.

Its also a low point in gaming, once I seen that there are parents paying people to coach their kids to be better at it.

This game along with, microtransactions, released unfinished titles, dlc that divids the player base, etc. Are all equal stains in gaming. My opinion.

[Cmoney007]

Many people also think this game will never die, but I still feel that it will in a few years or less. We have seen these trends many times. But if this game continues to have quality updates, then Fortnite might not die for years. Anyways, you are correct that other games should be talked about more than Fortnite.

[sampsonon]

Sony lost, and MS has won.
this is the beginning of the end for sony.

look at the headlines.

"sony caved"

"sony surrendered"

"Fortnite Is so Big It Can Bully Sony and Nintendo"

the worst move in the history of gaming and sony is going to lose because of it.
MS has Windows.

RIP

[DafunkyRebel]

After Epic betrayed us Survival players I’ve cut all tide with them, they can take their BR and shove it

[jjb1981]

Money talks, sucka.

[AK91]

Or you know it could’ve been the fans from all 3 brands demanding for it to happen.

[CrystalFantasy3]

All of these clickbait titles are delicious!

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Why would you even say this? It was the people who spoke up. It could've been any other game, and it has been other games, but just like how consumers didn't stand for Microsoft's garbage at the beginning of the generation, people made it clear what they wanted. Corporations will do whatever *they* want, if you just take whatever they give you. But don't do a disservice to everyone and say Fortnite bullied Sony and Nintendo.

[zaherdab]

yet not big enough to keep physics in boobs!

[Sirk7x]

You gotta figure, Epic makes the Unreal Engine as well, which everyone here has played more Unreal developed games than they can probably remember. They're basically one of the backbones of video game development right now. Even without Fortnite, I'd still say they have leverage.

[NerdBurglars]

Thank god they are on the side of the gamer

[jaycptza]

Sorry to busy PLAYING Spider-Man at the moment to care about Fortnite

[Surt]

Streamers care about Fortnite. A very few successful ones, followed by many and I mean many clout chasers. The game is garbage IMO. And if your forcing yourself to play it for views than thats just damn sad.

[Cmoney007]

I can't push myself to get into Fortnite, and this article is clickbait nonsense.