Xbox Console Exclusive Teases PlayStation and Switch Ports

The Sea of Thieves social media team appears to have started hinting at the game’s arrival on the Switch and at least one PlayStation console. This development is yet another strong indicator that Xbox is planning a foray into multi-platform publishing, with Sea of Thieves being just one of several Microsoft games that have been rumored to be coming to its rivals’ consoles in recent weeks.

The widely reported pivot in the company’s game publishing strategy has already stirred quite a bit of online controversy, with some vocal Xbox fans incessantly arguing that such a move would diminish the value of owning a Microsoft-made console. Some fairly well-established insiders have also emerged from the drama worse for the wear by fueling the rumor mill and then retracting their claims about Xbox games going multi-platform.

Xbox Multi-Platform Push Gets Valentine’s Day Teaser

But there indeed seems to be something to the claims that select first-party games from Microsoft are getting wider releases, as even the Sea of Thieves social media team now appears to be suggesting as much. Specifically, the game’s official Twitter account has just commemorated Valentine’s Day with some rather telling words that seem to hint at its PlayStation and Switch ports. “Rowboats are red, and sometimes they’re blue, other times they’re green,” reads the playful take on the well-known love poem Roses Are Red. This appears to be referencing the main brand colors of Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox, in that order.

The implications of the inclusive nature of the poem were not lost on Twitter users, even though the Sea of Thieves account had subsequently framed the tweet as merely a creative Valentine’s Day message. Be that as it may, the game has long been rumored for a wider release, and was even mentioned in the upcoming Xbox event multi-platform lineup that leaked online earlier this week.

Sea of Thieves PlayStation, Switch Ports Likely To Be Announced This Week

Aside from Sea of Thieves, the leak also mentioned Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment as being part of Microsoft’s platform-inclusive publishing initiative. Those two games were alleged to be coming to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles in the immediate future, whereas Sea of Thieves is only understood to be launching on Xbox rivals later in 2024. All three ports are expected to be announced during the next episode of the Official Xbox Podcast airing at 3pm ET on February 15.

All Multi-Platform Xbox Ports Are Rumored To Be Limited to PS5 and Switch

While Microsoft has reportedly already assured employees that Xbox consoles have a future, this attempt at boosting its gaming revenue by adding to its hardware rivals’ software catalogs could still cannibalize its own console sales, which are already lagging behind its competitors. And while the scope of its multi-platform push remains to be confirmed, much like the initiative itself, some recent reports have suggested that the move will skip the PS4 and exclusively focus on PS5 and Switch publishing.

Sea of Thieves

$30 $40 Save $10

Sea of Thieves sees a return for developer Rare. Players will create their own pirate and sail a large open world, looking for treasures and battling against other players to secure their riches. They’ll also be able to unlock new cosmetics and embark through multiple events.

Released

March 20, 2018

Genre(s)

Adventure

ESRB

T for Teen: Crude Humor, Use of Alcohol, Violence

How Long To Beat

130+ Hours

X|S Enhanced

Yes

File Size Xbox Series

89 GB (December 2023)

Metascore

69

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S