First-party Xbox game Sea of Thieves has exclusive content for PlayStation gamers

Xbox highlights an important instance of case-by-case exclusivity with Sea of Thieves on PS5.

2

It's a real sea change at Xbox as first-party games break platform exclusivity and launch on PlayStation and Nintendo systems. Popular pirate sim Sea of Thieves was announced as one of the 4 Xbox exclusive games that would make the jump, and Microsoft is providing some extra small incentives for PS5 gamers. It turns out that some of these cosmetics are exclusive to PS5 and can't be acquired on Sea of Thieves' home port of Xbox.

PS5 gamers can get two sets of exclusive Sea of Thieves cosmetics, but you have to actually pre-order the game and participate in the beta to get them. The first is the Ruby Viper cosmetic pack which you get right away from pre-ordering. The second is a Dauntless Adventurer bundle (a sail and a title) that you can get from actually playing the closed beta--the beta is unlocked from pre-ordering as well.

Offering exclusive items to PlayStation users in a first-party Xbox game has been somewhat controversial. These items are small little extras that PS5 gamers can get from pre-buying and helping test the game, but it's more so the principal of the matter that has irritated Xbox gamers.

This is a prime example of the case-by-case exclusivity that Xbox gaming CEO Phil Spencer mentioned during the FTC v Microsoft trial. In those federal proceedings, we heard Bethesda's former VP of marketing Pete Hines discuss the benefits and merits of exclusivity, at least when it pertains to full games.

Elsewhere in the hearing, Sony's third-party exclusivity deals were demonized, and Xbox had internally labeled Sony as a hostile and aggressive competitor because of these deals.

Spencer explained at the July 2023 evidentiary hearing:

"I believe right now one of the biggest risks to Xbox's survival, is that Sony paying teams to keep content off Xbox.

"[Shipping games on PlayStation] enables them to use the revenue they make from our content to sign 3rd party exclusive games to block from our platform.

"They can use revenue from the games we ship on their platform to block Xbox's survival. I feel like I'm enabling an aggressive competitor to further our aspirations.

"Every time we ship a game on PlayStation, going back to the 70-30 split, Sony captures 30% of revenue that we do on their platform. And then they use that money among other revenue to do things to try to reduce Xbox's survival on the market."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also testified in the trial, saying that he would eradicate all game exclusivity if it were up to him. Fast-forwarding to the present day, and Microsoft is indeed breaking game exclusivity, but content exclusivity...that's a different story.

Sea of Thieves launches on PS5 on April 30.

Here's more info about Sea of Thieves' exclusive PS5 content as per the FAQ site:

• Despite the presence of a limited selection of designated platform exclusives, all additional cosmetics that players have previously acquired or bought will remain accessible when playing the PlayStation 5 version of Sea of Thieves.
• This selection is subject to change as cosmetics become available through alternative avenues, and we will keep you all updated as this progresses.
• Only cosmetics and items obtained through platform-exclusive offers may not be fully equippable across different devices.
• For instance, the Duke ship cosmetics linked to the Xbox Series X|S launch won't be usable on PS5.
• Similarly, items like the Ruby Viper cosmetics or Dauntless Adventurer Closed Beta rewards, exclusive to PlayStation pre-order campaigns, won't be equippable on Xbox or Steam.
• Additionally, those participating in the PS5 Closed Beta will also earn the Dauntless Adventurer Sails and Title as unlockable rewards. These cosmetics are classified as non-transferable and will be exclusive to players on the PlayStation platform.