The survival MMO Fallout: 76 does not feature crossplay between PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. However, contrary to expectations, this time it is not Sony to blame, but rather the developers at Bethesda studio itself.
Developers contradict each other: In an interview with GameStar, Todd Howard, Game Director of Fallout: 76, once said that Sony was to blame for the absence of crossplay in the latest installment. Sony has been “unhelpful” on the matter.
Sony, the crossplay opponent: This aligns with past actions by Sony, where crossplay with competing consoles like the Xbox One or Nintendo Switch has consistently been blocked. Recently, this caused considerable frustration among players with the Switch version of the battle royale shooter Fortnite.
In response to Howard’s crossplay statement, Bethesda’s Marketing Director Pete Hines recently contradicted him in another interview with GameStar.
“Crossplay was never seriously planned”
Bethesda does not want crossplay at all: According to Pete Hines, the lack of crossplay is not due to an alleged blockage by the PlayStation manufacturer Sony. Rather, Bethesda never seriously planned crossplay as a feature for Fallout: 76:
With Fallout 76, there were some hurdles we had to overcome that were a higher priority for us, which is why crossplay was never something we really considered seriously from the start. Personally, I have no idea if we will add it later.
Bethesda is in contact with all platforms
Crossplay remains an important topic: According to Hines, there are games where crossplay would be important, but not in the upcoming Fallout: 76.
Nonetheless, Bethesda is in regular contact with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. This communication involves not only crossplay but also cross-progress and other platform-related issues.
Here you can find out why Fallout: 76, despite much criticism beforehand, could turn out to be really good:
