Sea of Thieves is Microsoft’s ‘most successful’ new IP of this generation

It is undeniable that Microsoft/Rare has found success with Sea of Thieves, the latest IP from Microsoft Games Studios, announcing that the title had over 2 million players during week one and had reportedly become the most popular first-party title on Windows 10. 

According to Rare’s Studio Head Craig Duncan, Sea of Thieves has become the “fastest-selling first-party new IP of this console generation”, a statistic which doesn’t include players who are using Microsoft’s Game Pass, at least according to Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg. Sea of Thieves has found a lot more success than Microsoft’s other new IPs of this generation, including Sunset Overdrive, ReCore and Quantum Break. 
 
Strangely, retail sales of Sea of Thieves have remained strong despite the release of Microsoft’s Game Pass, a $9.99/£7.99 monthly subscription which allows gamers to access all of Microsoft’s new first-party games, which includes Sea of Thieves.

A physical copy Sea of Thieves currently costs £41 on Amazon or £50 for a digital Xbox One/Windows 10 version, which is equivalent to 5-6 months worth of Game Pass subscriptions, which is a great deal if you are plan on playing Microsoft’s other upcoming first-party releases. It is likely that a large number of Xbox One/PC users are unaware of the existence of Microsoft’s Game Pass system. 

 

Sea of Thieves is the first of many first party games from Microsoft this year, with State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3 both coming up later in the year. It is also likely that Microsoft will reveal other new first-party titles a this year’s E3, which may include the 343’s next entry into the Halo franchise.   

You can join the discussion on the success of Sea of Thieves on the OC3D Forums.