At IFA 2018, Sony"s CEO Kenichiro Yoshida flaunted what he called the "best experience" offered by the PlayStation 4 to users as the main reason for the lack of support for cross-platform play on the gaming console. Yoshida made that statement in response to the backlash faced by Sony for blocking cross-play and progression in Fortnite on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Now, Xbox engineering lead Mike Ybarra retorts the remark.
Responding to Yoshida"s recent statement on the cross-play issue, Ybarra said on Twitter that Sony "still isn"t listening to gamers."
Ybarra"s response reflects a growing effort by Microsoft (and of the competition in general) to pressure Sony into rolling out support for cross-play to the PS4. While Sony Interactive Entertainment America"s CEO, Shawn Layden, recently suggested that the company may be working on a solution, Sony has yet to confirm whether that will happen anytime soon. Currently, games like Fortnite and Minecraft are playable across the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, but not on PS4.
In June, John Smedley, the former President of Sony Online Entertainment, revealed that while he was at the company the reason behind the absence of cross-play between Sony"s own console and Microsoft"s was money, though that was only known internally. Whatever the reason is, the issue is expected to continue putting Sony in a bad light if left unaddressed.
Source: Mike Ybarra (Twitter) via GameSpot