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Microsoft has confirmed multiplatform release plans for four first-party titles.
Following weeks of speculation, Microsoft delivered an Xbox business update last Thursday, which addressed claims that the company has been exploring the possibility of bringing its games to PlayStation and Switch.
It confirmed plans to release four unnamed Xbox exclusives on other console platforms, which were believed to be Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves and Grounded.
This has now been confirmed. In Xbox‘s own words:
- Pentiment from Obsidian Entertainment, a truly unique, critically acclaimed, and award-winning narrative adventure game with a striking visual style inspired by history itself will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch on February 22.
- Hi-Fi Rush, the award-winning and beloved rhythm-based action game where the world syncs to the music from Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks will be coming to PlayStation 5 on March 19 at midnight UTC, with pre-purchase available on PlayStation 5 digital storefronts on February 21.
- Grounded – also from Obsidian Entertainment – a co-op survival adventure phenomenon that has welcomed 20 million players into the backyard, will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch on April 16. Cross play will be supported across Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC.
- Sea of Thieves, the shared world adventure game from Rare, will be coming to PlayStation 5 on April 30 – and will be available to wishlist by PlayStation 5 players starting tomorrow, February 22. Having built a passionate community of more than 35 million players from around the world, the support of cross play for Xbox, PlayStation and PC will allow players to experience epic pirate adventures with friends on more platforms.
Limited Run Games has also announced plans to release physical edition of Pentiment for Xbox, PS5 and Switch, and physical versions of Hi-Fi Rush for Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
During last week’s business update, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said that Starfield and Indiana Jones – titles previously reported to be under consideration for PS5 – would not be going multiplatform at this time, but he also told The Verge: “I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform.”
“To ensure long-term success for both Xbox and the industry as a whole, we must continue to evolve,” Xbox said in a statement. “Today we announced that we will expand the communities we reach: we are currently in the process of bringing four Xbox games to other platforms.
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“These are titles which have been available to Xbox players for at least a year, including hidden gems that deserve to be experienced more widely, and live service games whose communities will benefit from welcoming even more players. We will share more details on these titles soon.”
It continued: “By bringing these games to more players, we not only expand the reach and impact of those titles, but this will allow us to invest in either future versions of these games, or elsewhere in our first-party portfolio. There is no fundamental change to our approach on exclusivity.”
