Players of Epic Games' battle royale title Fortnite have discovered that their Sony PS4 accounts for the game don't carry over to the Nintendo Switch version.
Cross-platform play is currently available for Fortnite between all platforms besides the PS4. Users of the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and recently-released mobile versions can play with one another, and can also use the same Epic Games account to access their data between platforms. This means players can use the same outfits, in-game rewards and other boons which are exclusive to a single account across different iterations of the game.
The PS4, though, isn't playing ball. Cross-platform Fortnite play between PS4 and PC is possible, as well as between PS4 and mobile devices, but not between PS4 and Xbox One or Nintendo Switch. When asked to comment on this by the BBC, Sony gave the following response:
We're always open to hearing what the PlayStation community is interested in to enhance their gaming experience. With [...] more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network, we've built a huge community of gamers who can play together on Fortnite and all online titles. We also offer Fortnite cross-play support with PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices, expanding the opportunity for Fortnite fans on PS4 to play with even more gamers on other platforms.This is, it must be said, a pretty non-committal answer, and doesn't really address the issue. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Polygon that the decision not to support cross-play is "a decision that each of [the major platform holders] are making...some are supporting cross-play and some are not".
There's no word yet on whether cross-play or account intercompatibility will be made available between the PS4 and the Switch. Judging from Sony's previous history on this matter, though, it seems it's unlikely.
Fortnite was originally announced for Nintendo Switch during E3 2018. The game managed to rack up 2 million downloads during its first day of availability.
Update: Microsoft's head of the Xbox brand, Phil Spencer, has weighed in on the Fortnite controversy. Spencer told Giant Bomb via Gamesindustry.biz that he thought Sony's attitude towards cross-platform and account sharing "doesn't feel like it helps the consumers". Spencer went on to say that if this decision "doesn't help the developers and it doesn't help the consumer, then it doesn't feel like it helps to grow gaming".
Do you wish Sony would give way on cross-platform Switch play? Can you see their reasoning? Let us know in the comments below! If you want to see what else came about at E3 2018 then be sure to also take a look at our coverage hub.
