Fortnite on Switch: BLOCKED by Sony! - Polygon - E3 2018
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Date: 2023-12-10
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Comments and reviews: 30
-ListerTunes
I wouldn't be surprised if this is more or less the fault of all the parties involved. When you spend money on a game, the platform you're on takes their cut. This is about 30% of the money and it's true whether you buy it on Steam, GOG, Apple Store, Play Store, Nintendo, XBL, or PSN. If you just buy the game and play it, it's easy to keep track of -- the place you bought it takes their cut, passes the rest on to the devs, and then you log in to the game's account to play on the developer's (or publisher's) servers.
This gets trickier with in-app purchases when you can play through multiple platforms. Whatever platform you're on wants their cut when you purchase through their store. The agreements they have developers/publishers sign in order to have access to those platforms specifies when and where they require payment, and what types of user accounts they allow to access them. The three big consoles are ALL very snippy about this. They all want to get ALL of your money and so they don't allow cross-account play. This is not a technical issue, it's a competition issue. Console B doesn't want you to play on their network with advantages you paid Console D for.
Developers are stuck because if they don't follow the platform rules they don't get to be on the platform any more, and they spent a lot of money making the game work on that platform so that more people could play it. Getting back to this thing specifically, Nintendo or Sony (or probably both, because they are both Terrible about online stuff in general) likely have exclusivity rules in their contracts forcing Epic to lock accounts to the first platform they logged in on. They both think this is a better deal for them.
There is a -possibility- that this is a reporting/accounting issue where the platforms just want assurances that any purchases on their platform pay the proper cut, and Epic's way to guarantee that is this account locking, but I'd wager more on exclusivity rules coming from the platforms. And probably the reason they're not commenting further is because they're not allowing Epic to -put them in a bad light- by explaining this to their customers.
It all could work, but it would take all of these massive corporations to work together and take the risk of making less money, so I bet you can all guess how well that will go. The end! No moral.
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I wouldn't be surprised if this is more or less the fault of all the parties involved. When you spend money on a game, the platform you're on takes their cut. This is about 30% of the money and it's true whether you buy it on Steam, GOG, Apple Store, Play Store, Nintendo, XBL, or PSN. If you just buy the game and play it, it's easy to keep track of -- the place you bought it takes their cut, passes the rest on to the devs, and then you log in to the game's account to play on the developer's (or publisher's) servers.
This gets trickier with in-app purchases when you can play through multiple platforms. Whatever platform you're on wants their cut when you purchase through their store. The agreements they have developers/publishers sign in order to have access to those platforms specifies when and where they require payment, and what types of user accounts they allow to access them. The three big consoles are ALL very snippy about this. They all want to get ALL of your money and so they don't allow cross-account play. This is not a technical issue, it's a competition issue. Console B doesn't want you to play on their network with advantages you paid Console D for.
Developers are stuck because if they don't follow the platform rules they don't get to be on the platform any more, and they spent a lot of money making the game work on that platform so that more people could play it. Getting back to this thing specifically, Nintendo or Sony (or probably both, because they are both Terrible about online stuff in general) likely have exclusivity rules in their contracts forcing Epic to lock accounts to the first platform they logged in on. They both think this is a better deal for them.
There is a -possibility- that this is a reporting/accounting issue where the platforms just want assurances that any purchases on their platform pay the proper cut, and Epic's way to guarantee that is this account locking, but I'd wager more on exclusivity rules coming from the platforms. And probably the reason they're not commenting further is because they're not allowing Epic to -put them in a bad light- by explaining this to their customers.
It all could work, but it would take all of these massive corporations to work together and take the risk of making less money, so I bet you can all guess how well that will go. The end! No moral.
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-yourtuber111
Now, I know it's easy to blame Sony. I do too. But the big question is: why did they do this? Microsoft has an extensive background in denying gaming options for people. Originally, people who owned the Xbox One weren't allowed to borrow games. But Sony always seemed to be more open with their platform. The problem? Sony was hacked back when the PS3 was around. A lot of people lost their accounts. And a few years later, the Sony leaks happened, which put them in a tight spot. I think Sony is trying to protect themselves. I can see why they'd do it.
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Now, I know it's easy to blame Sony. I do too. But the big question is: why did they do this? Microsoft has an extensive background in denying gaming options for people. Originally, people who owned the Xbox One weren't allowed to borrow games. But Sony always seemed to be more open with their platform. The problem? Sony was hacked back when the PS3 was around. A lot of people lost their accounts. And a few years later, the Sony leaks happened, which put them in a tight spot. I think Sony is trying to protect themselves. I can see why they'd do it.
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-MaraJinksblade
My guess is this might be related to the PlayStation Plus premium content you can get for free for fortnite if you have PS+. At least that seems most likely to me. My gut feeling also makes me think of Sony not allowing external files for mods for Fallout 4 on the PS4, which completely gutted that feature, because i guess it was a security concern, but if thats the case I wonder why it only seems to be the switch that is affected. Its a shame to see Sony doing this stuff when they were on the recieving end of it in the last console cycle.
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My guess is this might be related to the PlayStation Plus premium content you can get for free for fortnite if you have PS+. At least that seems most likely to me. My gut feeling also makes me think of Sony not allowing external files for mods for Fallout 4 on the PS4, which completely gutted that feature, because i guess it was a security concern, but if thats the case I wonder why it only seems to be the switch that is affected. Its a shame to see Sony doing this stuff when they were on the recieving end of it in the last console cycle.
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-ksweeley
There's a thread on ResetERA with multiple people confirming that XBox One AND Nintendo Switch Epic Account holders CANNOT login to Fortnite if they ever logged into their Epic Account on a PS4 so this affects a potentially very large amount of people.
It's also confirmed by multiple people on ResetERA that if your account was created on PC and you made PC purchases and you logged into your Epic Account using a PS4, your account essentially becomes a Sony only account on the console side.
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There's a thread on ResetERA with multiple people confirming that XBox One AND Nintendo Switch Epic Account holders CANNOT login to Fortnite if they ever logged into their Epic Account on a PS4 so this affects a potentially very large amount of people.
It's also confirmed by multiple people on ResetERA that if your account was created on PC and you made PC purchases and you logged into your Epic Account using a PS4, your account essentially becomes a Sony only account on the console side.
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-owenashcroft8167
I'm pretty sure that Sony is the reason Destiny 2 just went, no shared saves anywhere. I can't imagine for 1 second this wasn't impossible.
It seems, going forward, if you're releasing some sort of persistent multiplayer title that is cross platform you going to want to avoid Sony, because not only are they going to ban cross play (which isn't that big a deal, but they're going to lock your characters to their platform.
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I'm pretty sure that Sony is the reason Destiny 2 just went, no shared saves anywhere. I can't imagine for 1 second this wasn't impossible.
It seems, going forward, if you're releasing some sort of persistent multiplayer title that is cross platform you going to want to avoid Sony, because not only are they going to ban cross play (which isn't that big a deal, but they're going to lock your characters to their platform.
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-TexelGuy
Nobody warned us because sony made a deal with Epic Games to NOT say anything about your PSN account locking it to only the PS4 console. If I were in epics place and not adhering to that condition meant not porting your game to the biggest console userbase, I would definitely accept it and not warn players about it. It's just a huge business opportunity to pass up for a mere crossplay issue to them.
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Nobody warned us because sony made a deal with Epic Games to NOT say anything about your PSN account locking it to only the PS4 console. If I were in epics place and not adhering to that condition meant not porting your game to the biggest console userbase, I would definitely accept it and not warn players about it. It's just a huge business opportunity to pass up for a mere crossplay issue to them.
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-styromaniac6967
Lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit!
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Lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit lawsuit!
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-prezzeruk4054
Like someone said in another post. we cant transfer our character stats and unlocks from cod or battlefield between systems. why the sudden uproar about fortnite?
I bet there's not actually that many games that do allow this feature.
Just asking. besides i dont play fortnite. iam not into battle royale games. just not my thing.
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Like someone said in another post. we cant transfer our character stats and unlocks from cod or battlefield between systems. why the sudden uproar about fortnite?
I bet there's not actually that many games that do allow this feature.
Just asking. besides i dont play fortnite. iam not into battle royale games. just not my thing.
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polygon
Why is everyone asking -why-? The answer is obvious; Epic wanted as many people as possible to buy their V-Bucks and Sony wanted as many people as possible playing Fortnite on their platform (with vendor lock-in. Why would any profit-making company warn you not to use their product? I fear Polygon doesn-t understand the world of business.
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Why is everyone asking -why-? The answer is obvious; Epic wanted as many people as possible to buy their V-Bucks and Sony wanted as many people as possible playing Fortnite on their platform (with vendor lock-in. Why would any profit-making company warn you not to use their product? I fear Polygon doesn-t understand the world of business.
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-SimilakChild
Sony been doing this shit for years, eliminating cross platform and backwards compatibility with their consoles in order to make more sales. then they give everyone a loooooong ass lying speech about newer console hardware not supporting the feature and blah blah. I never did like Sony to begin with. Don't blame Nintendo for this!
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Sony been doing this shit for years, eliminating cross platform and backwards compatibility with their consoles in order to make more sales. then they give everyone a loooooong ass lying speech about newer console hardware not supporting the feature and blah blah. I never did like Sony to begin with. Don't blame Nintendo for this!
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-SuperHappyDonnie
-This is not the first time Sony has refused to work with Microsoft and Nintendo to support cross-play. Last year, when Microsoft decided to unite all versions of -Minecraft- in what it called the Better Together Update, Sony blocked it on the PS4 and said it was to protect younger gamers. -
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-This is not the first time Sony has refused to work with Microsoft and Nintendo to support cross-play. Last year, when Microsoft decided to unite all versions of -Minecraft- in what it called the Better Together Update, Sony blocked it on the PS4 and said it was to protect younger gamers. -
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-mrbastos
yeah, I'm a Sony/Nintendo fan, don't play Fornite and I think this blocking is trash. Sony needs to stop blocking the crossplatform stuff. It only makes them look worse because they haven't caught up to the rest. Much like Nintendo finally allowing region-free games with the Switch.
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yeah, I'm a Sony/Nintendo fan, don't play Fornite and I think this blocking is trash. Sony needs to stop blocking the crossplatform stuff. It only makes them look worse because they haven't caught up to the rest. Much like Nintendo finally allowing region-free games with the Switch.
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polygon
WHAT SONY SAYS: Buy our console only so you can play Fortnite!
WHAT SONY IS REALLY SAYING: Don-t buy our console so you can play on the go! We want to loose the 94% of Fortnite players that play on our console and have them play on a platform other than ours!
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WHAT SONY SAYS: Buy our console only so you can play Fortnite!
WHAT SONY IS REALLY SAYING: Don-t buy our console so you can play on the go! We want to loose the 94% of Fortnite players that play on our console and have them play on a platform other than ours!
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-jamal153
Hate it or love it but the majority of gamers like multiplayer games this looks bad for Sony regardless of how good their games are people always go back to multiplayer games because single player games don't have the replayablity as multiplayer games
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Hate it or love it but the majority of gamers like multiplayer games this looks bad for Sony regardless of how good their games are people always go back to multiplayer games because single player games don't have the replayablity as multiplayer games
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-korbin4674
I like how everyone points fingers at only one side. Its both Sony and Epic's fault He said so himself -: 36 seconds that it doest matter which one you log onto first it locks you out from the other. Oh well ignorance is bliss.
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I like how everyone points fingers at only one side. Its both Sony and Epic's fault He said so himself -: 36 seconds that it doest matter which one you log onto first it locks you out from the other. Oh well ignorance is bliss.
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-JohnyK07
Wow, just wow. Sony used to be much more open than this. This is the kind of move I would expect Nintendo to pull, but they're the ones actually being cool this time. Guess Sony is not so much -for the players- anymore.
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Wow, just wow. Sony used to be much more open than this. This is the kind of move I would expect Nintendo to pull, but they're the ones actually being cool this time. Guess Sony is not so much -for the players- anymore.
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-rudytay83
Yea Sony is wrong for this but it's hard being on top. Nintendo has a good console coming for the crown but won't get it. but they will come close. Xbox will be a far 3rd. Sony trying to keep gamers on the PlayStation
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Yea Sony is wrong for this but it's hard being on top. Nintendo has a good console coming for the crown but won't get it. but they will come close. Xbox will be a far 3rd. Sony trying to keep gamers on the PlayStation
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-bagboi9710
>: ) I'm Kinda happy this happy about this because FORTNITE PLAYERS PLAY FORTNITE 24 HOURS A DAY YOU GUYS NEED TO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE OTHER THEN CRAPPING FORTNITE IT'S NOT THE ONLY GAME ON THE DANG MARKET.
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>: ) I'm Kinda happy this happy about this because FORTNITE PLAYERS PLAY FORTNITE 24 HOURS A DAY YOU GUYS NEED TO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE OTHER THEN CRAPPING FORTNITE IT'S NOT THE ONLY GAME ON THE DANG MARKET.
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-peterle8482
Can't you just unlink your PS4 account on your epic account and then link your epic account on the switch or is it still blocked? Just a question because I personally don't own a switch xD just curious
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Can't you just unlink your PS4 account on your epic account and then link your epic account on the switch or is it still blocked? Just a question because I personally don't own a switch xD just curious
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-lincy9114
For the record, Sony & Nintendo has a history of not getting along due to a very old grudge they had from way back in the days where they used to work together prior to the release of PS1.
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For the record, Sony & Nintendo has a history of not getting along due to a very old grudge they had from way back in the days where they used to work together prior to the release of PS1.
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-HunterJE
Don't quite get how everyone is 100% sure this is Sony, I could see it as easily being a choice by Epic to make it harder for Sony's players to punish Sony for not allowing cross-play.
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Don't quite get how everyone is 100% sure this is Sony, I could see it as easily being a choice by Epic to make it harder for Sony's players to punish Sony for not allowing cross-play.
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-migs8171
Pretty dumb from sony a lot of these have zero loyalty to the brand and this will just push them to play the game on another platform where their new account will crossover
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Pretty dumb from sony a lot of these have zero loyalty to the brand and this will just push them to play the game on another platform where their new account will crossover
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-Lloyd8521
I don't understand why people think it's ok to use the same account on completely different consoles. One Sony one Nintendo why would Sony want to lose players.
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I don't understand why people think it's ok to use the same account on completely different consoles. One Sony one Nintendo why would Sony want to lose players.
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-buki1007
Well, Sony wanted to make cross platform play in ps3 era but Microsoft didn't. And all of the journalists and Xbox fanboys were saying Sony is crazy. lol
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Well, Sony wanted to make cross platform play in ps3 era but Microsoft didn't. And all of the journalists and Xbox fanboys were saying Sony is crazy. lol
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-angusrhoton7114
I cancelled my psn subscription. It-s not theirs to hold hostage. Epic wouldn-t do this but Sony is a bunch of paranoid control freaks.
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I cancelled my psn subscription. It-s not theirs to hold hostage. Epic wouldn-t do this but Sony is a bunch of paranoid control freaks.
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-justinw1384
So is this not an issue going from PS4 to Xbox! Because if not then what the hell is going on? And if it is why has nobody noticed yet?
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So is this not an issue going from PS4 to Xbox! Because if not then what the hell is going on? And if it is why has nobody noticed yet?
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-uzi_does_it_2017
Literally the first time I've considered leaving playstation. RIP. And duck you too fortnite for allowing this to play out.
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Literally the first time I've considered leaving playstation. RIP. And duck you too fortnite for allowing this to play out.
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-wizvir
This is why i use Xbox to play fortnite than transfer it to my switch but not the exact reason In my opinion its a better console
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This is why i use Xbox to play fortnite than transfer it to my switch but not the exact reason In my opinion its a better console
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-dreamindistortion
It's probably on Epic. Maybe each game has different content and updates so it's just easier to do this. I don't know
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It's probably on Epic. Maybe each game has different content and updates so it's just easier to do this. I don't know
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-UshioKiss
Can people not even unlink their PSN and Epic accounts? That seems like an easy solution. Thats really shitty if they cant.
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Can people not even unlink their PSN and Epic accounts? That seems like an easy solution. Thats really shitty if they cant.
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