“Sea of ​​Thieves” from Microsoft, Xbox and Rare is currently the #1 most pre-ordered game on PlayStation (PS5)

What you need to know

• Last month, Microsoft confirmed widespread rumors that it would begin bringing more “exclusive” Xbox games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, in an effort to achieve greater profit margin growth.
• The first batch includes Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of ​​Thieves.
• Sea of ​​Thieves is the biggest of the bunch by far, and arguably the service game with the most potential.
• It appears that this potential has already been realized, as the game has reached number one on the pre-order chart on PlayStation consoles.

Last month, Microsoft confirmed during an “Xbox Business Update” podcast that it would be bringing some of its Xbox console-exclusive games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The first four games include Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of ​​Thieves. Sea of ​​Thieves is the group's biggest game ever, as the multiplayer pirate adventure has reached tens of millions of players across both Xbox and PC consoles.

Microsoft's decision to “water down” the meaning of the phrase “Xbox Exclusive” has been met with some fierce resistance in some quarters and quiet skepticism in others, lamenting the potential collapse of Xbox console hardware sales. Microsoft and others have argued that the console industry is largely a fixed install base of about 200-250 million overlapping users, and that the future of gaming will be more about targeting users where they are, rather than trying to accommodate them into a closed community. environmental system. At the same time, Microsoft said “don't expect” much more from this initial set of four ports for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, but if the experiment is successful, it's reasonable to expect more ports.