Microsoft's strategy of embracing multiple platforms is clearly yielding impressive results, as evidenced by their successful launches on PlayStation 5, in addition to Xbox Series X and S, and PC. This approach has been confirmed by Sony itself through a PlayStation blog post detailing the top-selling games on the PlayStation Store for April 2025.
In the U.S. and Canada, Microsoft's titles dominated the PS5's non free-to-play download chart, with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon 5 securing the top three positions. A similar trend was observed in Europe, where Forza Horizon 5 led the chart, followed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Minecraft.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a game backed by Microsoft through a day-one Game Pass launch and featured in Xbox showcase broadcasts, also performed exceptionally well on both regional charts. Additionally, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 from Microsoft-owned Activision and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from Microsoft-owned Bethesda also made significant appearances in the charts.
This success across different platforms indicates that high-quality games, regardless of their origin, can achieve top positions in sales charts. It's no surprise to see these titles performing well on PlayStation, especially with the PS5 community eagerly awaiting games like Forza Horizon 5, which was highly anticipated upon its April launch. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered caters to the demand for Bethesda's immersive worlds, while Minecraft continues to thrive, boosted by the viral success of the Minecraft movie.
Microsoft's multiplatform approach is becoming the new standard, as evidenced by their recent announcement of Gears of War: Reloaded for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, set to release in August. It seems increasingly likely that even Halo, once an Xbox exclusive, will follow suit.
Last year, Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer emphasized that there are no "red lines" in their first-party lineup when considering multiplatform releases, including Halo. In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer stated that every Xbox game is a candidate for multiplatform distribution. "I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say 'thou must not,'" he remarked.
Spencer has articulated that Xbox's multiplatform strategy is partly driven by the need to increase revenue for Microsoft's gaming division, especially following the significant $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. "We run a business," Spencer said in August. "It's definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company. Because we get a level of support from the company that's just amazing and what we're able to go do. So I look at this, how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform continues to grow, on console, on PC, and on cloud. It's just going to be a strategy that works for us."
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Former Xbox executive Peter Moore, in an interview with IGN last year, suggested that bringing Halo to PlayStation has likely been a topic of discussion at Microsoft for some time. "Look, if Microsoft says, wait, we're doing $250 million on our own platforms, but if we then took Halo as, let's call it a third-party, we could do a billion… You got to think long and hard about that, right?" Moore explained.
He further elaborated on the broader implications of such a move, stating, "I mean, you just got to go, yeah, should it be kept? It's a piece of intellectual property. It's bigger than just a game. And how do you leverage that? Those are the conversations that always happen with, how do you leverage it in everything that we would do? It's had its ups and downs, but look, Xbox wouldn't be what Xbox is without Halo. But yeah, I'm sure those conversations are happening. Whether they come to fruition, who knows? But they're definitely happening, I'm sure."
Microsoft faces potential backlash from hardcore Xbox fans who feel that the brand's value is being diluted by the lack of exclusives and Microsoft's marketing strategy. The prospect of Halo becoming available on PlayStation could further fuel this discontent. However, Moore emphasized that such reactions might not deter Microsoft from making strategic business decisions. "The question would be, ultimately, is that reaction enough not to make a fundamental business decision for the future of not only Microsoft's business, but gaming in itself?" he said. "Those hardcore are getting smaller in size and older in age. You've got to cater to the generations that are coming through, because they're going to drive the business over the next 10, 20 years."
