After a week of rumors and speculation that caused the streets to be littered with broken Xbox fans and a very unusual “Business Update” podcast from Phil Spencer, we have finally received confirmation that select games will be leaving Xbox exclusivity and going multiplatform. At this time, four games have been selected to make the change and they’re coming much sooner than expected. Now, whether or not you agree with this shift in strategy or if the games will end here, change is happening within the Xbox ecosystem so all we can do now is make the most of the situation. As a predominantly Playstation and Switch player, there is something novel to owning and playing these games on rival platforms that might get me to purchase one or two. Either way, I wanted to outline the four games that were announced with their intended platforms and dates, at this time. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what Xbox games will be opening their doors to all this year.
Source: Xbox Wire – New Platforms, New Players: Four Fan-Favorite Xbox Games
Pentiment
Releasing on February 22 for PS4, PS5, and Switch
First on the list is Pentiment, an old-school Adventure Game/Visual Novel from the visionary creators in the RPG genre at Obsidian Entertainment. Sporting a unique medieval “picture book” art style, it’s one of the, in my opinion, most creative and yet likely very divisive games to come of Xbox in recent years. To my surprise, the game will be releasing tomorrow as of writing this and I think I’m fairly interested in playing it. As an owner of a Series X, I’ve had plenty of time to dig into Obsidian’s pet project but never found the right time so maybe with the splash of it going multiplatform I’ll try to get my hands on the Platinum Trophy of Microsoft’s Pentiment.
Hi-Fi RUSH
Releasing on March 19 for PS5
Arguably one of the more unexpected games to make the list is Tango Gamework’s Hi-Fi RUSH, the rhythm-based 3D action game that was shadow-dropped during an Xbox Showcase last year. Of Xbox’s output during the last few years, Hi-Fi RUSH has been on my list as a must-play that speaks to my taste in video games. From my perspective, the game made sense as a one-of-a-kind experience you’d think you want to keep exclusive on the platform so I’ve never even considered it being anywhere but on Xbox and PC. What’s most puzzling about the announcement, however, is the game is only coming to PS5 with this announcement, despite leaks found within the game files indicating a migration to Nintendo’s platform. To me, the importance of the game running at 60 FPS due to the rhythm-syncing gameplay tells me that this won’t be the last we hear about new Hi-Fi RUSH platforms as I could easily see this game being a day 1 release with the new iteration of the Nintendo Switch that’s yet to be unveiled. I could be grasping at nothing but time will tell if I’ve read the tea leaves right on this one.
Grounded
Releasing on April 16 for PS4, PS5, and Switch
Another game from Obsidian Entertainment is the survival crafting game, Grounded, the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” inspired game that lets you and your friends tackle my greatest fear: monster-sized bugs. As someone who’s slowed down on the survival genre (Palworld being an exception to the rule), I can’t say I see myself jumping into this one but I can appreciate that it’s making its way over. Whether you agree with the move to publishing some games on other platforms, I think it benefits everybody when, specifically, multiplayer games can open their gates to more players, whether it be out of Xbox, Sony, or Nintendo (if they’d ever).
Sea of Thieves
Releasing on April 30 for PS5
The final game announced comes from the minds at Rare and is the multiplayer pirate game, Sea of Thieves. Originally released in 2018, Sea of Thieves has since become an online phenomenon in the streaming community and lets players take to the high seas with friends to hunt for treasure, take aim on other pirates, and explore the various cross-overs in such worlds as Pirates of the Caribbean and Monkey Island. As the only game announced from the Xbox One generation and a pure multiplayer experience, this is the most logical choice for a game to sail over to PlayStation 5. It is surprising, however, that it won’t be coming to last-generation PlayStations as Sea of Thieves is one of Xbox’s most prominent multiplayer live-service games it’s published so even more players would make sense from all angles. Either way, for anyone interested in Sea of Thieves, it’s my understanding that the game isn’t really designed with solo play in mind so make sure to do your due diligence if you’re a lone captain, like myself.
And there you have it. After a long week and several Xbox community members losing themselves to the rumor mill, we can see that the announcement of Xbox publishing games on other platforms may not be as bad as it seems. I do believe that this is only the beginning as the individual games chosen are not going to make large financial splashes to justify the change and are likely Microsoft’s way of easing into heavier hitters that will make them what they’re looking for. For now, however, even as an owner and user of all platforms, I’m interested in showing some support to these games, if only for the novelty alone. In an industry that’s ever-changing, I’m happy to see Xbox continue to make waves as one of the industry’s prominent figures, and I can’t wait to see where they lead us in the future.
