Microsoft has finally revealed the four Xbox Studios games destined to become multiplatform, that is Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Repentance and Groundedthe first two confirmed only for PS5while the other two will also come up Nintendo Switch and PS4. The announcement shouldn't be too surprising, but there was no official confirmation from Microsoft, which in the event clarifying Xbox's future strategy last week had limited itself to playing “guess and guess” with the community.
Pentiment (February 22) and Hi-Fi Rush (March 18) so they are the two “hidden gems” mentioned by Phil Spencer, while Grounded (April 16) and Sea of Thieves are the two “community-focused” games.
In short, now we certainly have a more concrete idea of Microsoft's expansion plans and of what has been implied as an experiment that in the future could include a greater number of projects (yes, even Starfield and Indiana Jones), with the goal of making “every screen an Xbox”.
Upon closer inspection, Microsoft is still one of the largest publishers on PlayStation and Nintendo on the market, just think of Minecraft and Call of Duty, however this is the first time that games created by an internal team at Xbox Studios and born as Green Cross exclusives have also landed on other shores, which explains the amazement, mixed in some cases to the discontent of the community when the first rumors relating to portings for PS5 and Nintendo Switch appeared online.
Will Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment and Grounded appeal to players on other platforms?
Now it will be very interesting to find out the reactions of PS5 and Nintendo Switch players upon the arrival of the aforementioned Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush and Grounded. In fact, we are talking about games of undoubted quality, warmly welcomed by critics and players but which not in all cases achieved the popularity they deserved on PC and Xbox, despite their inclusion in the Game Pass.
Hi-Fi Rush, for example, was the highest-rated Green Cross exclusive of all of 2023 and yet it only recorded 3 million players in August last year. Not a bad number in itself, but we are far from the 13 million from the not-so-stellar Starfield and with both games available in the Game Pass. In short, it is clear that the shadow drop that took place at last year's Developer Direct was an operation considered fantastic by enthusiasts who follow the medium with great attention, but that from the perspective of a market where marketing reigns supreme, it was not turned out to be spot on. In short, the launch on PS5 (and on Nintendo Switch, if confirmed) could prove to be one second youth for rhythmic action by Tango Gameworks.
Grounded, on the contrary, arrives on Nintendo Switch (and PS5, here too we are awaiting confirmation), already with 20 million players on Xbox and PC. We are talking about a survival game, a genre that historically can easily take root and spread through word of mouth, and therefore there could actually be a significant expansion of the community to other shores and romantically unite the communities thanks to crossplay. Same thing, but on an even larger scale, though Sea of Thieveswith the difference that we are talking about a game from 2018, which is impeccably supported and with a very active community, but which could pay the price of arriving on other platforms after the deadline.
But I'll leave the word to you. What do you think of the Verdecrociati games about to become multiplatform? Will they be able to be successful on PS5 and Nintendo Switch?
Update: the news was updated following Microsoft's official press release which revealed in detail which games will arrive on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles and when.
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