A game that blends shooting and building in such a way that no other game does it. About 100 players are dropped onto a map with the goal of becoming the last person standing while gathering weapons.
This is a short description of this game.
Where it all started
In March 2018 in San Francisco, Epic Games had a presentation where Tim Sweeney the CEO of the company made some declarations about the game and its opportunities regarding cross-play availability. Fortnite Battle Royale had a mobile release that many were eager to be available and not less than 36 pairing cross-play are possible but only 35 being usable by the players as we speak. Even if you can say that it might be enough and the scoring is more than just satisfying, that one cross-play that is missing might be the missing link.
They sorted out most of the compatibilities between PC, mobile, and console but they didn’t manage to have PS4 and Xbox One players sit at the same table.
It seems that Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Company, was trying to let people know that it was not his call, and he tried to have everything work. Also, he said that this kind of competition between two large networks creates artificial barriers and holds people back from enjoying a really entertaining game.
The company’s vision for the future is to focus on the development and performance of the games, and no matter the title of the game, it should be available on any platform available for all users. With that 35 cross-play available, they are very close to achieving this performance, and Epic also makes it available for most of the Unreal developers as well. CEO Tim Sweeney is also confident that this so-called barrier will break down pretty soon.
Market players are making the rules
Sony and Microsoft already have a history regarding cross-play. With Epic being a fan of the two companies and the gamers enjoying the experience, it seems there should be no reason for delaying the collaboration.
Even though Microsoft had been transparent in what it concerns cross-play in general and in particular for Fortnite, Sony didn’t make a public statement so far. PS4 currently has the largest worldwide community of users.
Therefore they might have less to gain and much to lose if they implement cross-play. This advantage might be lost by Sony if cross-play is implemented. But creating a barrier might also look like a typical behavior of an anti-consumer strategy.
Considering Epic’s advantage through Fortnite, it seems that the cross-play barrier between Sony and Microsoft is close to being broken into pieces. If it happens, a precedent will be created, and there will be no other reason to deny cross-play for other games.
Having Epic as a great company and the technical evolution by the side this great wall is dammed to finally come down.
