Earlier today, reports started circulating from industry insiders that Microsoft has reportedly considered bringing one of its first-party IPs, Sea of Thieves, to rival Sony and Nintendo platforms.
As first spotted on ResetEra, insider Jeff Grubb reported on his latest episode of Game Mess Morning that Microsoft has entertained the thought of bringing Rare's pirate game to both PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch. In the video, Grubb doesn't state that it is "officially" coming to the platforms, rather that he's heard rumors it could be as Microsoft aims to "rejigger its strategy."
Former Kotaku EIC Stephen Totilo further backed up this news in a report on his new independent venture, Game File. Again, both insiders stop short of confirming this is happening, with Totilo stating that a Microsoft rep declined to answer when asked for a statement over the weekend.
However, as Totilo points out, this would hardly be the first time Microsoft launched a first-party IP on a rival platform, as its beautiful platformer Ori and the Blind Forest has made the jump as well as Cuphead.
Keep in mind as well that Microsoft games have lived on rival platforms for years as well, such as Minecraft and The Elder Scrolls Online. Both of those titles lived on rival platforms before Microsoft owned them, but since then they've received the same level of support from the Xbox maker on PlayStation and Switch in the ensuing years.
It'll be interesting to see if this move does indeed happen, especially as Microsoft's Phil Spencer confirmed in a recent interview with Windows Central's Jez Cordon that Xbox currently has no plans to bring Game Pass to either PlayStation or Switch. Sea of Thieves making the jump to PlayStation and Switch would make some sense given the install base of both platforms, but as of now, there is no confirmation that this is actually going to happen.