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'Fortnite' players are furious at Sony for locking accounts to the PlayStation 4 - an exclusionary tactic that's burning years of goodwill with fans

Ben Gilbert   

'Fortnite' players are furious at Sony for locking accounts to the PlayStation 4 - an exclusionary tactic that's burning years of goodwill with fans
Entertainment1 min read

PlayStation owners are furious at Sony, and they've started a hashtag to air their grievances: #BlameSony.

The reason? Sony is locking "Fortnite" accounts on PlayStation 4 to its service, PlayStation Network.

If you tie your "Fortnite" account to PSN, you're unable to use it - and anything you've earned in game or, more importantly, purchased in game - anywhere else.

Nintendo Switch owners learned this the hard way last week when the game finally arrived on Nintendo's eShop last week:

Fortnite (Switch error message)

Epic Games

Compounding the issue is the fact that "Fortnite" accounts tied to all other platforms - from the Xbox One to the Nintendo Switch to iPhone and PC/Mac - can be used interchangeably.

For example: You can buy the game's "Battle Pass" on Xbox One, complete a bunch of challenges, then continue completing challenges from the Nintendo Switch (or the iPhone, or a computer). Like "Minecraft" and "Rocket League" before it, "Fortnite" is the latest example of truly "cross-platform" games - where one account is carried across all platforms, from smartphone to home console to PC, with progress and stats and in-game purchases included.

"Fortnite" can even be played across competing platforms - except for Sony's PlayStation 4, which doesn't work with the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions of the game. Thus, #BlameSony.

It's the latest example of Sony taking an exclusionary stance with gaming on the PlayStation 4 that's out of step with what consumers expect in 2018.

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