Months ago, Todd Howard said publicly that he had wanted to include cross-play as a feature with Fallout 76. However, he said at the time that Sony had refused to allow it, and as a result, it wouldn’t be a part of the game. Following the recent announcement that Sony will actually allow cross-play for Fortnite, Bethesda responded to questioning fans saying that they wouldn’t be adding cross-play. However, Pete Hines has now clarified that Fallout 76 cross-play could still come eventually, but probably as a post-launch update.
Fallout 76 Cross-Play Possibilities
Cross-play is a relatively easy feature to implement to an online game. There have been examples in the past of studios demonstrating just how easy it would be to activate. However, historically speaking, the biggest obstacle to cross-play has been Sony. The PlayStation 4 is the best-selling console on the market. As such, Sony has not wished to remove one of the main incentives for people to buy PlayStations; if people want to game with their friends, they need to buy the same console, and statistically speaking those friends are more likely to own a PlayStation than an Xbox.
However, in recent years the notion of cross-play has gained considerable traction and support among gamers. Sony recently announced that they would be allowing cross-play for Fortnite. It remains to be seen if this represents a sea change for Sony. It could simply be that Fortnite’s massive size and profitability persuaded them to make a rare exception. Nevertheless, the announcement prompted many Fallout fans to ask Bethesda if Fallout 76 cross-play was back on the table.
Pete Hines’ Clarification About Fallout 76 Cross-Play
Their response was that the feature was “no longer on their radar”. However, it seems that this was somewhat misleading, and Pete Hines has now clarified that the statement was only referring to the possibility of cross-play featuring at launch.
We didn't work on a feature that wouldn't work on all platforms. So we put it aside to work on other things. Now that info has changed we will look into it, but not as we are only 6 weeks from launch. It'll have to wait before someone has time to look into it
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) October 1, 2018
Hines clarified on Twitter that there isn’t any aspect of Fallout 6 which isn’t compatible with cross-play. If past examples are to be believed, that means that the feature could probably be implemented without too much difficulty if Sony gives the studio the green light. However, Hines makes a fair point; we are now very close to the game’s launch. Bethesda has shown clear support for cross-play in the past. So, if Sony is now willing to allow it, it seems likely that fans could see Fallout 76 cross-play after all.