Microsoft’s multiplatform strategy is clearly paying dividends, as evidenced by its success on PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox Series X and S and PC. This was confirmed by Sony in a PlayStation blog post detailing the top-selling PlayStation Store games for April 2025.
In the U.S. and Canada, Microsoft games dominated the top three spots on the PS5's non-free-to-play download chart: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon 5. Europe saw a similar trend, with Forza Horizon 5 leading, followed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Minecraft.
*Clair Obscur: Expedition 33*, backed by Microsoft for a day-one Game Pass release and featured in Xbox showcase broadcasts, also ranked high 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 made strong showings.This success highlights a simple truth: quality games, regardless of their origin, will top sales charts. It's no surprise to see these titles perform well on PlayStation, given the demand for games like Playground's Forza Horizon 5, which was eagerly anticipated on the PS5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered satisfies the Bethesda craving across platforms, while Minecraft continues to soar in popularity, boosted by the viral success of its movie.
This trend marks a new normal for Microsoft, which recently announced *Gears of War: Reloaded* for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, set to launch in August. It seems likely that *Halo*, once an Xbox exclusive, will also transition to multiple platforms.Last year, Microsoft’s gaming chief Phil Spencer emphasized that there are no "red lines" in their first-party lineup for going multiplatform, including Halo. In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer stated that every Xbox game is a candidate for multiplatform release. “I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not,’ ” he explained.
Spencer has articulated that the multiplatform strategy is partly driven by the need to generate more revenue for Microsoft’s gaming division, especially after the monumental $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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As former Xbox executive Peter Moore told IGN, the idea of bringing Halo to PlayStation has likely been discussed 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 remarked.
He continued, “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 has been devalued by a lack of exclusives and the company's marketing strategies. The prospect of Halo moving to PlayStation could provoke further discontent, but Moore believes this won't 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?” Moore questioned. “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.”
