Nowadays, popular game titles are released on a variety of hardware, including PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and finally smartphone apps.
As networked competitions and cooperative play have become commonplace, cross-play across hardware boundaries has also become the norm.
Sony has finally lifted the ban on cross-play on PS4, which was previously unsupported, and even recently only some game titles have supported it!
What is Cross-Play?
Cross-play is a feature that allows players to communicate between different hardware (models) to play against each other or cooperate with each other.
For example, "Fortnite" is available on PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and smartphone apps.
In the past, network play was only available on the same hardware, even if the game was the same title, but now it is possible to enjoy the same game on any hardware.
Cross-Play on PlayStation
It is not that the PlayStation has not been able to support cross-play until now.
There were titles that could be played between PS Vita, PS3, and PS4, but cross play with other hardware was basically impossible for many years, with the exception of a few PC titles.
However, a turning point came with the introduction of the aforementioned game title "Fortnite".
"Fortnite", which has a large global player base, supports cross-play and has been enjoyed by a wide range of players on PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and smartphones.
Of course, "Fortnite" was also released on PS4, but since it did not initially support cross-play, PS4 users were limited to network play between PS4 players only.
At the time, I was invited to play Fortnite with them. I have a good memory that I was invited to play Fortnite with him, but I had no choice but to say no, "Duh...I'm a PS4 user...kopo...".
I don't know if there were many requests, if the number of Fortnite players on PS4 decreased due to the lack of cross-play support, or for some other reason, but in September 2018, Sony announced that it would gradually support cross-play on other hardware.
The first was the aforementioned "Fortnite", and in January 2019, the second was "Rocket League".
About nine months have passed since then. As other hardware continues to announce popular game titles with cross-play, SONY has finally announced the lifting of the ban on cross-play!
Now that the ban has been officially lifted, game makers can create cross-play titles for PS4!
Well, it's been a long time coming!
The first officially supported titles have also been announced!
The first title to be officially released for PS4 Cross-Play will be "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare", which will be released on October 25, 2019.
The first title was released in 2003, and it is a very popular FPS game with countless fans around the world. The "Call of Duty: The Last Airbender" is a game that is mainly played on a network.
The company has also announced that it will release more cross-play compatible titles after "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare", including Square Enix's "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered" which will be released in January 2020. "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered" will support cross-play between PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.
Once the ban on cross-play is lifted on PS4, more gamers will be able to play networked games, which will not only boost the game titles, but the eSports industry as a whole.
All eyes will be on these upcoming developments!