PlayStation Boss on Cross-Play: "We're Looking at the Possibilities"

There may yet be hope for a cross-play solution between all consoles in our near future, as recent comments from Sony Interactive Entertainment America CEO Shawn Layden seem to indicate that Sony is looking into possible solutions or compromises. This is much more than we've ever been able to get out of Sony before, and having an executive admit that they're looking into the possibility is heartening. Here's how it all went down.

Eurogamer reporter Robert Purchese was able to speak directly to Layden at the Gamelab conference in Spain, where Layden and Mark Cerny were giving a presentation about PlayStation's legacy. When Purchese got a hole of the microphone, he said the following:

"I thought it was fascinating you talking about PlayStation 3 flying too close to the sun - your Icarus moment you called it, and then PlayStation 4 coming back to be more back to basics, to be more about the players. But there seems to be an issue at the moment, that Sony isn't listening to its players - or doesn't seem to be - and that's cross-play, Fortnite particularly. And I wondered if there were any plans to open it up? It seems to be Sony's not listening."

What a champion! Layden replied, saying that he could offer up a short statement: "We're hearing it," he admitted. "We're looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I'm confident we'll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business."

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "That doesn't really sound like a committal answer," and you're absolutely right. Layden did not say that Sony is listening, he said that they "hear" their fans. He didn't say that they were looking into making this work for Fortnite, he said that the issue "affects a lot more than just one game." It may sound like he brushed it all off, but it's important that we have his words on-record.

The media, as well as the gaming public, have been turning up the heat on Sony, and we have to keep it up. We have to point back to each and every one of these statements, and make it absolutely clear, with zero ambiguity, that we all see Sony acting in its own self-interest, and not in the interest of players. We need to cling to statements that indicate Sony is considering possibilities, and hold them accountable to those statements as often as we can.

It may not seem like much, but this is another step toward generation-wide cross-play. Sony is currently the only company not willing to play along, and while it may have legitimate business concerns with opening up cross-play, the fact remains that its current stance betrays the tagline that supposedly defines the PlayStation brand: "For the players."

Stay tuned, and let us know in the comments below if you think we'll see true cross-play happen this generation!