Xbox breaks alleged Game Pass exclusivity requirement, Sea of Stars launches day one on PS Plus

In an indie game first, Sea of Stars, the new turn-based RPG from The Messenger developer Sabotage, will come to both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass on day one.

A bit ago during the FTC v Microsoft trial, a badly-redacted Sony Interactive Entertainment document had some interesting things to say about subscription exclusivity. In the document, SIE said that Microsoft typically requires any game launching day one on Xbox Game Pass to be exclusive to the Game Pass service.

"While SIE does not typically require subscription exclusivity for games included on PS Plus, Microsoft often requires that tiles included on Game Pass--particularly titles offered on Game Pass the same day they are released--not be made available on other subscription services," the passage reads.

Now we know for a fact that there are exceptions to this alleged Game Pass exclusivity.

Case in point: Sea of Stars, a new role-playing game set with a classic SNES style, is coming to both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus on day one.

Sabotage game dev Philippe Dionne confirmed the news in a PlayStation Blog post, and the developers even said that the title's inclusion on Game Pass "isn't an exclusive deal in any way" on its Kickstarter page:

"We're extremely excited to confirm that Sea of Stars will be joining the PC and Xbox Game Pass catalog on launch day. It's incredible for us to imagine how many more players around the world will get to experience Sea of Stars and join the conversation around our project!

"The discussion with Microsoft took place over a couple of years, and they really helped us make sure that there would be no compromises to our vision and promises. As such, this isn't an exclusive deal in any way, meaning it has no impact on our ability to bring the game to any other platforms or services."

We have to wonder just how far-reaching the alleged exclusivity clause is, and if and how it applies to specific games. Obviously there are exceptions, and it's possible that Xbox has done away with this requirement altogether.