What you need to know
- Earlier today, we got confirmation that Grounded and Pentiment were coming to Nintendo Switch, while a leaked trailer indicated that Hi-Fi Rush was coming to PlayStation 5.
- Sea of Thieves is also confirmed to be coming to PlayStation 5.
- Microsoft has confirmed which games are headed to what platforms when, with all four games coming to PlayStation 5, while Grounded and Pentiment are also launching on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
We've finally got clear information for what's happening when with the Xbox multiplatform strategy.
After some announcements during the Nintendo Direct and an early uploaded video on Wednesday, Microsoft shared via Xbox Wire that Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Sea of Thieves are coming over to other consoles, in line with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer's prior comments about four Xbox titles being ported to other consoles.
Grounded and Pentiment are being ported to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, while Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush are only being ported to PlayStation 5.Here's the release dates for each of the ports:
- Pentiment - Feb. 22, 2024
- Hi-Fi Rush - March 18, 2024
- Grounded - April 16, 2024
- Sea of Thieves - April 30, 2024
Both Grounded and Sea of Thieves will support cross-play on all platforms, so players can hang out together or fight each other no matter where they're playing.
Ahead of these launches, Grounded crossed 20 million players, while Sea of Thieves has achieved over 35 million players since launch. Additionally, Xbox and Bethesda are partnering with Limited Run Games to make physical versions of Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush, with more information coming soon.
Rare also shared a studio message regarding bringing Sea of Thieves to PlayStation 5, which you can check out below:
2024 is big for Xbox launches
In addition to these multiplatform launches, there's a number of games coming exclusively to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Xbox Game Pass later in the year. Ninja Theory's Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is scheduled to arrive on May 21, 2024, while Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed and MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are both coming later in 2024.
Some big expansions are also on the way, with Starfield's Shattered Space DLC slated to launch at some point this year.
Outside of exclusives, a new Call of Duty game will almost certainly be launching later this year, and players can expect the Call of Duty franchise to enter Xbox Game Pass as Microsoft continues to integrate Activision Blizzard. Blizzard Entertainment's 2023 RPG Diablo 4 is also coming to the service on March 28, 2024.
Analysis: An interesting year ahead
I'm extremely curious to see which of these ported games (if any) sell well. For my money, I expect Sea of Thieves to explode even further, but we'll see how everything else does. It's an interesting time in the gaming industry, and the success or failure of this initiative will likely be telling this time next year (or earlier) if Xbox is considering bringing any further games to other platforms.
