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What you need to know
- Last month, Microsoft confirmed widespread rumors that it would begin bringing more of its “exclusive” games from Xbox to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, in a quest for greater profit margin growth.
- The first batch includes Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves.
- Sea of Thieves is by far the largest of the bunch, and the service game arguably has the most potential.
- It looks like that potential is already being realized, as the game has reached the top spot on the pre-order list on PlayStation consoles.
Last month, Microsoft confirmed during an “Xbox Business Update” podcast that it would be bringing some of its exclusive Xbox console games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The first four games include Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves. Sea of Thieves is by far the biggest game of them all, as the sandbox multiplayer pirate adventure has reached tens of millions of players on both Xbox consoles and PC.
Microsoft’s decision to “dilute” the meaning of “Xbox exclusive” has been met with fierce resistance in some quarters and quiet skepticism in others, bemoaning the possibility of a collapse in Xbox console hardware sales. Microsoft and others have argued that the console industry is largely a static install base of around 200 to 250 million overlapping users, and that the future of gaming will be more about targeting users where they are, rather than of trying to absorb them in a closed environment. ecosystem. At the same time, Microsoft said it was “not expecting” more than this initial group of four ports for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation, but if the experiment is successful, it is logical to expect more to come.
To that end, Sea of Thieves will be among the first games to explore this new direction, and so far it looks like it’s paying off. Confirmed by industry analyst Benji-sales and others, Sea of Thieves has reached the top spot on the PlayStation pre-order chart in the United States, as well as other territories.
Sea of Thieves is currently the number one selling pre-order on PlayStation Network in the United States pic.twitter.com/Wxgqoqf95XMarch 10, 2024
Microsoft is already a prolific PlayStation publisher, thanks to games like Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons, and some of the titles acquired from studios like Bethesda. Microsoft can now also count on Activision-Blizzard games like Call of Duty as part of that envious revenue stream.
analyzing the plan
What Microsoft will be monitoring closely is whether or not this experiment will lead to a decline in monthly active users. Microsoft confirmed in its most recent investor call that monthly active Xbox console users are higher than ever, counting Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S players in that statistic. Xbox Series Popular service games like EA Football (FIFA), Minecraft and Fortnite remain actively updated on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, contributing to the long tail of the previous generation of consoles.
Microsoft might have given Xbox One users fewer reasons to upgrade to next-gen consoles than Sony’s PlayStation 5, but that doesn’t appear to have contributed to a drop in active and paying users. However, Microsoft will likely be interested to see if Sea of Thieves on PlayStation moves active Sea of Thieves users from Xbox to PlayStation, for those with both consoles. Ideally, Microsoft would want Sea of Thieves to acquire new users here, rather than simply port existing players from other ecosystems. In the short term, additional sales will certainly be a blessing, but this strategy is all about finding growth. If Microsoft finds that putting out games like Sea of Thieves and such leads to a decline in monthly active Xbox users, or that Xbox One users opt for the PlayStation 5 as an upgrade path, they’ll likely be a little more restrictive. about how they proceed.
In any case, it will be interesting to see how this strategy evolves over time. Microsoft has confirmed that new Xbox hardware is in the works for the next generation, accompanied by widespread rumors that the company is exploring its own Xbox handheld device, with native gaming support similar to the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch.
Sea of Thieves launches on April 30, 2024 for PlayStation 5 and is now available on Xbox Series X|S and PC, also with Xbox Game Pass.