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Sony may still be avoiding cross-play, but one of the industry’s most powerful CEOs sees it as the inevitable future.
With the discussion of PlayStation 4’s lack of cross-play for games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and more bubbling up in recent months, one industry executive now says it’s only a matter of time until cross-platform play is more universal.
GameSpot reports Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick recently spoke of a fully cross-platform future during last week’s Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. Zelnick stated Microsoft is “basically already there” when it comes to cross-platform, but he thinks this is just the beginning of a shift away from walled gardens.
“The closed system walls are coming down, and they have to,” he said. “Streaming is going to accelerate those walls coming down. We’re all here for the consumers. If you’re going to create rules that don’t benefit the consumers but somehow you think benefit your enterprise, you’re mistaken. Consumers will go elsewhere. You have to pay attention to what the consumer wants.”
Microsoft already releases all of its first-party games on both Xbox One and PC, and its Play Anywhere program gives anyone who buys a game on one platform a copy of it on the other. Meanwhile, Nintendo and Microsoft have been allowing cross-play between Switch, Xbox One, and PC, while Sony has infamously blocked cross-play between PlayStation 4 and the two competing consoles.
“Eventually I think we will be in a cross-platform world, for a lot of titles,” said Zelnick said during the conference. “Certainly, between console and PC.”
There’s at least one other publisher who’d love to see that happen. Last month, Bethesda called it “absolutely critical” that Sony allows cross-play in The Elder Scrolls: Legends. Sony hasn’t been swayed, however, saying earlier this month that it won’t allow cross-play because “PlayStation is the best place to play.” It’s a stance that has angered many gamers and has some calling an embarrassment.
Nick Santangelo is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He loves video games and sports, but not sports video games. Follow him on Twitter.