The implications of Sony finally allowing cross-play for Fortnite on the PS4 are huge. This means that there is potential that games that were previously denied cross-play could finally be getting the feature, but unfortunately for gamers, it seems that it could take a while before that happens, or in the case of Bethesda’s Fallout 76, perhaps never.In a tweet by Bethesda’s Pete Hines, he congratulated Sony on their decision but also wrote in a follow-up tweet, “Fallout 76 does not support crossplay, for a number of reasons. I have no idea if it ever will. But I assure you it is not on our radar right now as we focus on B.E.T.A. and Launch.”
Folks, chill. I work with a lot of devs and games for whom this is important going forward.
Fallout 76 does not support crossplay, for a number of reasons. I have no idea if it ever will. But I assure you it is not on our radar right now as we focus on B.E.T.A. and Launch.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) September 26, 2018
This is actually an interesting response because several months ago, Bethesda’s Todd Howard seemed to hint that Fallout 76 could have had cross-play, but it might be blocked by Sony. He was quoted as saying that Sony was “not as helpful as everyone would like it.” On hindsight it is possible that Howard might have simply be referring to Sony’s stance in general, as opposed to specifically talking about Fallout 76.
Either way given that Fallout 76 will essentially be an MMORPG, cross-play would definitely help more players play together, so we’re not sure why they are not looking to implement it. We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out, but we have seen how games can still be successful even without cross-play, so maybe it won’t be as big a deal as we think.