Sony PlayStation Announces Cross-Play Support Beta for Fortnite

In an unexpected turn of events, Sony has announced the beginning of cross-play support for the PlayStation 4. Though it's a touch limited right now.

According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, the platform will be launching an open beta cross-play feature for Fortnite: Battle Royale. The function will launch today, allowing gameplay, progression, and commerce (in-game purchases) to transfer between a Fortnite account, whether it's on PS4, Xbox, PC, Switch, or mobile devices.

This is a big step for PlayStation. Previously, they held a firm stance that they were against cross-play, believing that playing on PlayStation was the "superior" way to play games. While Xbox and Nintendo were brought together over Minecraft cross-play, Bethesda stated that Elder Scrolls: Blades will likely not come to the Sony console due to their lack of support.

Sony recognizes that this is a big change for the platform, and will be looking to expand the feature to more titles in the future.

"This represents a major policy change for SIE, and we are now in the planning process across the organization to support this change. We will update the community once we have more details to share, including more specifics regarding the beta timeframe, and what this means for other titles going forward."

Why the change of heart now is unclear. Some believe that the ability to purchase microtransactions on PS4 that will apply to other accounts was the monetary encouragement the company needed, though this is pure speculation.

Cross-play for Fortnite launches today, but it may not operate smoothly immediately.