Highlights
- Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus are both popular subscription services that offer a wide range of games for a monthly fee.
- Sea of Stars , an upcoming highly-anticipated game, will be available on both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus on its release day, potentially setting a new trend in the gaming industry.
- This simultaneous release on both platforms can benefit gamers, subscription services, and developers, reaching a larger audience and providing immediate support and exposure for the game.
First debuting all the way back in February 2017, Xbox Game Pass is still widely considered to be the best deal in gaming. Though its output over the last few months has been a bit of a mixed bag, Xbox Game Pass still offers well over 100 quality experiences, and for just one low price every month, that's more than reasonable for most Xbox users. With Xbox Game Pass achieving a great deal of success over the last few years, it's only natural that PlayStation would want a piece of the action, debuting its own PlayStation Plus subscription system in 2022. While both services are already pretty great, they're about to get a whole lot better.
Announced in March 2020, Sea of Stars is the next highly-anticipated game from Indie developer Sabotage Studio, the team behind the critically-acclaimed 2018 title The Messenger. Sea of Stars is technically a prequel to The Messenger, but it's trading in its predecessor's side-scrolling hack-and-slash gameplay for a Chrono Trigger-inspired aesthetic, and turn-based RPG gameplay. For the last three years, Sea of Stars has been at the top of many gamers' wishlists, and thanks to a recent announcement, many fans won't even need to spend a cent on the game. It's coming to both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus on day one, which could end up being just the start of a new industry trend.
Sea of Stars Could Be the Start of a New Industry Trend
Basically since launch, Xbox Game Pass has heavily marketed the fact that all first-party Xbox games come to the service on day one. Over time, this has been extended to encompass a slew of other highly-anticipated titles, ranging from Indie darlings to major AAA third-party titles. For years now, this "day one on Xbox Game Pass" marketing slogan has been used time and time again to cement the service's high value, and it's one of the biggest reasons behind the Xbox Game Pass' continued success.
Despite being much younger, PlayStation Plus has attempted a similar strategy, albeit with some big stipulations. Sony has been very candid about first-party exclusives on PS Plus, repeatedly stating that they won't be coming to the service at launch. But that doesn't mean PS Plus hasn't had a few aces up its sleeve. Stray is one of the best examples of a PS Plus day-one success, landing close to the service's launch, and essentially being one of the main reasons to upgrade to a higher tier of PlayStation Plus.
Though Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus hold differing views on day-one launches, they seem to agree that Sea of Stars is worth the investment, with the game landing on both subscription services simultaneously on release day. This is unprecedented for the gaming industry, marking the first time that a game has come to both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus at the same time, and it could only be the start of a new generation in the gaming subscription service era.
Now that the precedent has been set, gamers might start to see more titles land on both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus at the same time. This seems like it would be a win-win for all parties involved. Gamers get a highly-anticipated title included in the price of the subscription, Xbox and PlayStation potentially gain or retain subscribers, and the developers get an immediate cash injection and publishing support from two of the biggest companies in gaming. This trend has the potential to benefit Indie games like Sea of Stars the most, reaching a much wider audience from the get-go on two huge platforms, catching the attention of a ton of gamers that might have otherwise completely missed it.