14 DAY TRIAL // John Kodera, President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, announced in a post on the company's blog that a Fortnite open, cross-platform gameplay beta will begin today.
As Kodera said in his post, Sony caved into the immense interest of Fortnite players in cross-platform play and the new open beta is designed to allow them to play against Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Mac gamers.
The PS4 cross-play open beta also synchronizes game progression and the commerce system between the PlayStation and all other platforms where you have played the game.
According to Sony's post, the cross-platform Fortnite open beta is also seen as an occasion to test how gaming against players from other platforms affects the experience of PlayStation 4 users.
"Today, the communities around some games have evolved to the point where cross-platform experiences add significant value to players," said John Kodera.
The cross-play Fortnite open beta is opt-in, players being able to choose if they want to play against gamers from other platforms
Moreover, he added that "in recognition of this, we have completed a thorough analysis of the business mechanics required to ensure that the PlayStation experience for our users remains intact today, and in the future, as we look to open up the platform.
Furthermore, the decision to add cross-platform play support to Fortnite is seen by may PlayStation 4 users as a sign of possible inclusion in similar cross-play betas of other popular games such as Rocket League.
To support this belief, Kodera said that further details would be shared when more information such as the timeframe for the Fortnite cross-play open beta and the specifics of what this new endeavor means for other PS4 titles.
It's important to mention for players who don't want to play against gamers from other platforms that they will only join cross-play-enabled servers only if one of the friends in their party is playing Fortnite on another OS.