Microsoft’s multiplatform strategy is clearly paying off when it comes to launching on PlayStation 5 as well as Xbox Series X and S and PC.
Confirmation comes from Sony itself, via a PlayStation blog post that revealed the top-selling PlayStation Store games for April 2025.
In the U.S. and Canada, the top three spots on PS5’s non free-to-play download chart were all taken by Microsoft games: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon 5.
It was a similar situation in Europe, with Forza Horizon 5 on top, followed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, then Minecraft.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which Microsoft backed by signing a deal for a day-one Game Pass launch as well as an appearance in Xbox showcase broadcasts, also appeared high up on both charts.
And let’s not forget Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, from Microsoft-owned Activision, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, from Microsoft-owned Bethesda, both of which appear in the charts.
What does this tell us? That good games, whether they come from Microsoft or otherwise, top the sales charts. That’s perhaps no surprise. It’s also no surprise to see these games do well on PlayStation. The PS5 was screaming out for a game like Playground’s wonderful racer, Forza Horizon 5, so its April launch on the console was hotly anticipated. Then there’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which is scratching that Bethesda itch across PC and console, and the eternally popular Minecraft, even more popular now with the Minecraft movie going viral and breaking records.
This is now the new normal for Microsoft, which just announced Gears of War: Reloaded for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation coming in August. It seems inevitable that Halo, what was once the flagship Xbox exclusive, will also make the jump.
Last year, Microsoft’s gaming chief Phil Spencer said there were no “red lines” in its first-party lineup when it comes to going multiplatform — and that included Halo. Speaking to Bloomberg, Spencer said every Xbox game is up for grabs when it comes to making the multiplatform jump. “I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not,’ ” he said.
Spencer has said Xbox’s multiplatform push is in part about bringing in more money to Microsoft’s gaming business — with the pressure on to deliver following its eye-watering $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker 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.”
As former Xbox executive Peter Moore told IGN last year, bringing Halo to PlayStation will have 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 said.
“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 does face a potential backlash from hardcore Xbox fans who are already disgruntled after what they feel is a devaluing of the Xbox as a console, the lack of exclusives, and Microsoft’s marketing strategy for its gaming business. Losing Halo to PlayStation could spark yet another angry response, but Moore told IGN that won’t deter Microsoft from doing what’s right for its business.
“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?” Moore 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.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
