Epic boss Tim Sweeney has said Sony requires compensation from publishers for cross-play in certain circumstances.
In explosive comments made during the opening day of the Epic vs Apple trial, Sweeney said Epic agreed to the fees in order to get crossplay going in Fortnite.
“In certain circumstances Epic will have to pay additional revenue to Sony,” Sweeney said, as reported by The Verge.
“If somebody were primarily playing on PlayStation, but paying on iPhone then this might trigger compensation.”
The Verge also reports that Sony’s policy stipulates publishers can’t transfer virtual currency to or from PlayStation, and there must be a setting to disable all cross-platform interactions.
The Verge also says Sweeney confirmed Sony is the only platform holder that requires this compensation for crossplay.
Eurogamer has asked Sony for comment.
Sony only enabled crossplay on PlayStation 4 games back in September 2018 after enormous public pressure and negative press that had ramped up over the course of a year.
The pressure had spiked with the launch of battle royale phenomenon Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch, and the revelation you weren’t able to use your existing Fortnite account on Nintendo’s console if you had already used it on PS4.
Speaking on the issue, then PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden pointed to technical, business and customer service issues the company had to sort out.
“We know this is a want, this is a desire, and we want to be able to deliver that in the best way possible,” he said. “Now, enabling cross-play isn’t just about flipping a switch and ‘there you go’. It’s a very multi-dimensional kind of attribute or feature.