As surprising as it may seem, one of the biggest hits on PS5 right now is actually an Xbox game. It’s a real tidal wave! Good news in the console wars.
Last month, Sea of Thieves, the cooperative piracy game developed by RARE through Xbox Game Studios, achieved remarkable success, becoming the best-selling PS5 digital game in Europe. This success also extends to North America, where the game ranked third among bestsellers in the United States and Canada. A huge success that the English studio can be proud of.
The big PS5 success
Sea of Thieves originally released in March 2018 for Xbox One and PC. Following release, the game was made available via Xbox Game Pass, increasing availability from day one at no additional cost to subscribers. The game’s recent expansion for PS5, which also supports cross-platform play, has opened up a new wave of players to the title.
In fact, the game was ported to PS5 in April and included cross-play support to allow new players on PlayStation to join the existing community on Xbox and PC. This cross-platform inclusion strategy is an example of Microsoft’s policy of making its games accessible across multiple media, a strategic move mentioned by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who highlighted the benefits of this approach during a recent financial results conference call.
This strategy is not an isolated case. Other Xbox-exclusive games like Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush have also been released on other consoles including PS5 and Nintendo Switch. These moves demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment to diversifying the availability of its games and bringing them to a broader audience beyond just Xbox console owners. And then you can also collect a nice ticket along the way.
