Thanks to the folks over at Kotaku, we now know who's a little bit (or entirely) to blame about the fact that you can't transfer characters across different platforms on Destiny 2. In their latest podcast, Kotaku writers talk about Sony, how it's trying to 'associate Destiny with PS4', and why gamers are the ones paying for it.
According to Kotaku's Jason Schreier, developer Bungie had plans to make cross-platform character transfers a thing in Destiny 2. That was until Sony put its footdown with a solid "no."
Sony's been trying to get tons of exclusivity in Destiny 2. Its latest attempt was releasing the Wavesplitter exotic trace rifle as an exclusive-first on Destiny 2 for PS4. However, thanks to some bugs with good ol' travelling merchant Xur, the Wavesplitter was accessible on other platforms as well.
Of course, Destiny 2 isn't the only game that Sony's had an eye for in terms of exclusive deals. It's not the first, and it won't be the last one either. Sony's always been a bit hesitant to jump into cross-play and cross-platform interaction. Rocket League, which has been out since 2015, has just recently announced cross-play on PS4, due largely to Sony's stance on the matter.
While platform exclusivity in one way or another does help make a platform more popular, there's a line in the sand as to how far one can take that ideology. Sure, Spider-Man and God of War for PS4 were some of the best titles of last year, and the fact was they were PS4-exclusives definitely made even hardcore PC gamers like me think about getting a console, but when it comes to online games that are available on multiple platforms, we believe this level of 'exclusivity' is a step in the wrong direction.
Now, instead of players being encouraged to play Destiny 2 on PS4, they're disincentivized. Gamers who play exclusively on PS4 won't notice the difference, but the decision to block cross-platform character transfers don't serve anyone. PC players who might consider playing on PS4 won't, because they won't be able to transfer their progress from one platform to the other. PS4 players who consider playing on PC won't do that either, for the same reasons.
Hopefully, Sony will realize that they're taking this exclusivity thing a little too far, but until then, they can say goodbye to any PC-to-PS4 converts that they may or may not have gained.
What do you think about Sony's decision to block cross-platform character transfers between PC and PS4? How do you think this affects Destiny 2's player community, both on PC and on consoles? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
