Summary
PlayStation’s recently released download charts show that Xbox first-party gameSea of Thieveshas reigned supreme across major regions for the month of May. As the last of Xbox’s initial batch of multiplatform first-party titles,Sea of Thieveswas released for PlayStation 5 on April 30, and has been performing exceptionally well sales-wise on the Sony platform.
In an unexpected strategic pivot for many, Xbox announced earlier this year that it would be porting four of its back-catalog first-party games on rival platforms PlayStation and Nintendo, namelyHi-Fi Rush,Grounded,Pentiment, andSea of Thieves. Although several fans of the brand were disappointed withXbox’s sudden push for multiplatform releases, the company has seen a fair amount of success with these four games, especiallySea of Thieves, on competing platforms.
Before it even launched on PS5,Sea of Thieveswas already making headlines over itspreorders dominating the PlayStation Store, even outpacing Sony-published games likeMLB The Show 24andRise of the Ronin. The pirate adventure’s success story continues asSea of Thieveshas topped the May download charts for PS5, which were recently published in a newPlayStation Blog post. This data was compiled from the US/Canada and EU regions, two of the largest markets in gaming, which means an Xbox first-party title was the best-selling game on PS5 for the month of May.
Sea of Thieves Trounced Huge Games to Take The Top Spot
Impressively,Sea of Thievesbeat out established blockbuster titles likeMadden NFL 24,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,NBA 2K24, and even PlayStation exclusivesHelldivers 2andStellar Blade. It’s worth noting thatSea of Thievesalso topped PlayStation’s April chartsfor Europe, and has now expanded that lead to the US as well, indicating extremely strong sales performance even in its second month after launch. Funnily, the PS4 charts for the same regions in May were also led by an Xbox-owned game,Minecraft.
With its initial slate of multiplatform first-party titles experiencing a healthy amount of success, Microsoft will undoubtedly be compelled to port even more first-party games to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Recent rumors suggest that at least six more Xbox games are slated to go multiplatform, with the newly announcedDoom: The Dark Agesalso confirming a PS5 release on day one. The slow pivot away from console exclusivity isn’t limited to Xbox either, as PlayStation’s upcomingLEGO Horizon Adventureswill also release on Switchday and date.
