Sea of Thieves was one of the four games that Xbox executives confirmed was going to be released on rival platforms during the February Business Update podcast. It appears PlayStation gamers are eager to play the game already.
Over the weekend, the game briefly hit the number one spot as the most pre-ordered game on the PlayStation US store. Sea of Thieves has been exclusive to Xbox and PC for six years before Xbox decided to bring it to rival platforms.
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It beat highly anticipated games like Rise of the Ronin, Dragon’s Dogma, Stellar Blade, and MLB The Show 24 to become the most pre-ordered game. Sea of Thieves will be joined on rival platforms by Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Grounded. The Standard Edition of the game is priced at $39.99 while the Deluxe and Premium Editions are sold for $49.99 and $59.99 respectively.
There is a growing discussion about the relevance of making games exclusive to a platform. In a recent interview, Shawn Layden, former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America and chairman of Worldwide Studio, said the relevance of platform exclusives diminishes years after the launch of a new console generation.
” Exclusivity will always be important, it helps focus and highlight the features of your platform. What can you do here technically that you can’t do someplace else,” Layden said. “But, as your platform becomes established as the market recognizes where you sit in that pantheon of gaming options, I think the necessity of exclusivity becomes a little bit less.”
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There is also the cost implication of making games exclusive to a platform because you would be shutting out millions of players from other platforms that would have purchased the game. Live service games particularly thrive on higher player counts.
At the time of writing, Sea of Thieves’ peak concurrent player count on Steam was 66,906—notwithstanding that the game has been getting new content over the years—while the current player count was 4,772. Perhaps, it was the dwindling player numbers that forced Xbox to push the game to other platforms to see if that can help to revive the player count.
More Xbox exclusives may follow Sea of Thieves to rival platforms
Since its launch in 2018, Sea of Thieves has built a loyal community around it. In the game, players take the role of a pirate who embarks on different voyages for varying trading companies. The open-world multiplayer allows players to explore from a first-person perspective. Players sometimes form alliances or face each other head-on.
The reception of Sea of Thieves was mixed. On Metacritic, the game amassed an average rating of 69 on Xbox One and the number fell to 67 on PC. It was one of the foremost Xbox first-party titles to be released on Game Pass.
While players praised the ship combat and visuals of the game, they criticized its lean content, gameplay, and progression. Nevertheless, the game is widely regarded as one of Microsoft’s successful original IPs. As of June 2022, over 30 million players have explored the pirate world of Sea of Thieves.
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It was confirmed that Sea of Thieves will allow crossplay between PS5, Xbox, and PC when it arrives. That may encourage players who have owned the game for a while to return to it. There will likely be a concurrent player count spike when the game launches on PS5 on April 30, 2024.
PS5 gamers who preorder Sea of Thieves Premium Edition will receive the following exclusive content:
- Ruby Viper Weapon Set
- Scarlet Storm Parakeet
- Parakeet Kraken Outfit
- Parakeet Sea Dog Outfit
- Season 12 Plunder Pass
- Closed Beta access ahead of launch
- 5-Day Early Access ahead of launch
Will you purchase Sea of Thieves on PS5? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
