Fantasy Strike dev makes no bones about Sony's cross-play policies
The developer of Fantasy Strike is happy to call Sony out on its limited cross-play support.
Sirlin Games is yet another developer who is openly criticising Sony's outdated stance on cross-play. The developer of fighting game Fantasy Strike - which launches today on PS4, Switch and leaves early access on PC - has put together an FAQ to help players navigate what each platform offers.
The very first sentence in the FAQ explains that Sony's restrictions have limited what the team can do with cross-platform.
"[Fantasy Strike] features the maximum amount of cross-play we’re allowed to, limited only by Sony’s restrictions," it reads.
What this actually means is that while PC players can play with both PS4 and Switch owners, Switch and PS4 players can't play with each other. In other words, if a PS4 player starts up a game, they'll only be matched with PS4 and PC players. The same is true on Switch, where those players will only see Switch and PC players.
The game handles this automatically, so you shouldn't have to worry about it, and you're even able to turn it off if you only want to be matched with players on the same platform.
This limitation also creates another problem for players. Fantasy Strike has a platform agnostic account system called FantasyTag. Similar to Fortnite and other cross-play-enabled games, this allows players to maintain a single identity across the different platforms. Each FantasyTag keeps record of player stats, and offers universal XP earn and progression.
Unfortunately, FantasyTags created on PS4 can only be used on Sony's platform, whereas those created on PC/Switch can be used across both platforms. The FAQ explains that is because "Sony does not allow account data from other platforms to be used on PS4, and it does not allow your PS4 account data to be used on other platforms ."
"The only limitation on [cross-play/cross-logins] is Sony’s approval," Sirlin Games wrote. "If Sony changes their mind on these things, we will be happy and eager to support them. At this time, we are not allowed to do them though."
Thanks, ResetEra.
Header image by Sirlin Games.