It’s only been about four months since Sea of Thieves set sail on the waters of PlayStation 5, but the game has quickly found a following on the platform. According to sources for Windows Central, Sea of Thieves has seen more than 1 million units sold on PS5 alone. Readers should note that the number has not been verified by Microsoft. However, it is plausible, given the fact that it was PlayStation’s best-selling game in May, and continues to generate big numbers on the system. Clearly this was one of the better choices for Xbox’s multiplatform strategy!ย
Sea of Thieves was one of four Xbox published games that made the jump to PS5 this year, alongside Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Grounded. At this time, we don’t know exactly how the rest of those games are performing on PS5, or how Grounded and Pentiment have been selling on Nintendo Switch for that matter. Sea of Thieves was not one of the Xbox games that was published on Nintendo’s platform, but rumors had begun to circulate about a Switch version in the weeks leading up to Microsoft’s announcement. Given how well the game has sold on PS5, it’s a safe bet Sea of Thieves could end up on Nintendo’s Switch successor, which is set to be announced sometime within the next seven months.ย
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The strong sales of Sea of Thieves on PS5 bode well for the game’s continued success, and have likely bolstered what was already a large community. However, many Xbox fans have been concerned about how Microsoft’s multiplatform strategy might hurt the overall Xbox brand. This week saw the announcement that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will also be coming to PS5 next year, surprising many fans. While an Indiana Jones game makes a lot of sense to have on multiple platforms, waiting to make that announcement until next year could have helped Xbox sell more consoles during the holiday season.ย
It’s hard to say what the future will hold for Xbox consoles, but the company’s games seem to be selling quite well now that they’re starting to release on other platforms. Obviously that would seem to justify the multiplatform decision, but it remains to be seen how this will impact anyone’s willingness to buy an Xbox console. If all of Microsoft’s best games are on PS5 and none of Sony’s exclusives come to Xbox, what’s the incentive of buying the latter console? We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s possible this could lead to a day where Xbox exists solely as a third-party publisher, as we once saw with Sega.ย
How do you feel about Xbox games coming to PlayStation? Are you surprised by how well Sea of Thieves has sold? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter atย @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky atย @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!ย
