Nintendo may have opened a can of worms announcing two of the four titles Microsoft planned to share with it and Sony as part of a new cross-platform publishing strategy, but it now looks like the Xbox team is ready to make this plan official.
Announced via the Xbox Wire blog, Microsoft has finalized the titles it plans to share with the Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation consoles that now include Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves.
We reported earlier on Grounded and Pentiment being announced at Nintendo’s Direct Developer Showcase today, and there have been speculations as to whether Microsoft would part with its exclusive claim to the indie darling Hi-Fi Rush or its acclaimed open-world pirate themed hit Sea of Thieves.
Today we are announcing that four fan-favorite Xbox games will be coming to Nintendo Switch and Sony platforms this spring. The studios that built these celebrated games have drawn on their multi-platform experience to open the worlds they created to even more players and communities.
Matt Booty, President, Game Content & Studios
As of earlier today, it was known that Nintendo’s Switch console would gain access to both Obsidian Studios developed titles Pentiment and Grounded with the former being available as early as tomorrow, February 22, 2024, and the latter online April 16, 2024. However, Microsoft has clarified that both Sony and Nintendo will gain access to all four titles across the Switch, PS4 and PS5 console lineup with cross-play support for Sea of Thieves and Grounded on April 16 and 30 respectively.
- Pentiment from Obsidian Entertainment, a truly unique, critically acclaimed, and award-winning narrative adventure game with a striking visual style inspired by history itself will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch on February 22.
- Hi-Fi RUSH, the award-winning and beloved rhythm-based action game where the world syncs to the music from Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks will be coming to PlayStation 5 on March 19 at midnight UTC, with pre-purchase available on PlayStation 5 digital storefronts on February 22.
- Grounded – also from Obsidian Entertainment – a co-op survival adventure phenomenon that has welcomed 20 million players into the backyard, will be coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch on April 16. Cross play will be supported across Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC.
- Sea of Thieves, the shared world adventure game from Rare, will be coming to PlayStation 5 on April 30 – and will be available to wish list by PlayStation 5 players starting tomorrow, February 22. Having built a passionate community of more than 35 million players from around the world, the support of cross play for Xbox, PlayStation and PC will allow players to experience epic pirate adventures with friends on more platforms.
As the new stewards of Activision Blizzard’s publishing catalog, Microsoft is heralding its responsibility for cross-platform access by combining its own previously console-locked titles alongside other popular franchises such as Call of Duty, Diablo, Minecraft and more.
