Surprising news for Sony

An Xbox game has become the best-selling title on PS5, with sales double that of Sony's exclusive blockbuster "Death Stranding 2" and surpassing even the 2024 "Game of the Year" winner.

Forza Horizon 5 is currently the best-selling game on PS5 this year. Photo: Xbox Game Studios .

One of the biggest reasons many people choose Sony's PlayStation 5 over Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S is its library of high-quality exclusive games such as "God of War Ragnarok" and "The Last of Us".

However, PlayStation's latest exclusive game has been surpassed in sales on the PS5 by a game released by Xbox itself. That game is Forza Horizon 5, the popular open- world racing game released in 2021 by Xbox Game Studios, which has overtaken the blockbuster "Death Stranding 2: On the Beach".

The best-selling game on PS5 is from Xbox.

According to a report from Alinea Analytics , a company specializing in tracking game sales, “Forza Horizon 5” sold 2 million copies on PS5 in just the first 25 days of its release (from April 29th). During the same period, Kojima Productions' PS5 exclusive only achieved sales of 1 million copies.

"Despite critical acclaim, Death Stranding 2 's unique style has resulted in lower sales compared to other PlayStation Studios titles," said Rhys Elliott, head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics.

He also noted that this is one of the brands with enduring sales.

"The game will continue to sell well over time, especially with the PC version (launching in late 2026), which will attract a large number of Chinese players," Elliott commented.

The blockbuster Death Stranding 2 is struggling to attract a diverse audience. Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Meanwhile, Forza Horizon 5 is an easy-to-play, accessible racing game with plenty of content. On the PlayStation Store, not many games in the same genre achieve comparable quality.

Nevertheless, the fact that an Xbox game released four years ago has sold twice as many copies as a new PlayStation exclusive on the same platform, in the same timeframe, is alarming for Sony.

Last week, Forza Horizon 5 also officially reached 3 million copies sold on PS5, surpassing even Astro Bot , the game that won Game of the Year 2024.

Besides the impressive numbers for Forza Horizon 5, the report also revealed other interesting information. Specifically, Monster Hunter Wilds ranked second on the list of best-selling games on PS5 this year with 2.9 million copies sold. Closely following was Assassin's Creed Shadows with 2 million copies, while Elden Ring Nightreign reached 1.4 million copies.

Notably, the PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds on Steam also achieved tremendous success with 6.2 million copies sold, despite receiving much criticism from fans.

The future of cross-platform gaming

Microsoft's business strategy with Xbox is increasingly focused on releasing games across multiple platforms. Promotional campaigns like "This is an Xbox," the launch of the Xbox Ally handheld console, the return of Xbox Play Anywhere, the development of Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are all clear evidence of this direction.

Similarly, Microsoft has begun bringing several Xbox titles to PlayStation. This started with Sea of ​​Thieves, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush , and Pentiment last year. Earlier this year , Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5 followed.

Sea of ​​Thieves, another Xbox game, has also achieved great success on PS5 since its launch on the platform. Photo: Xbox Game Studios.

The huge success of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 is a clear sign that Microsoft is on the right track when bringing Xbox titles to its rival's platform. Sony has certainly noticed this, as evidenced by the fact that the company surprised the gaming industry by announcing an Xbox version of the blockbuster Helldivers 2 .

Therefore, it is highly likely that Xbox multiplayer titles will continue to be released on PlayStation, possibly right from launch or after some time.

While it's unlikely a PS5 game will be released on Xbox immediately, similar scenarios to Helldivers 2 are possible. Even Sony wants a piece of the multi-platform market, as evidenced by the continuous release of PlayStation Studios titles on PC.

Source: https://znews.vn/tin-bat-ngo-doi-voi-sony-post1571301.html