Microsoft announces Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Grounded and Pentiment release dates on PS5 and Switch – WGB

Former Xbox exclusives Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Pentiment and Grounded will all be going multiplatform over the next two months, Microsoft has officially confirmed.

Earlier today Nintendo held its Nintendo Partner Direct event where we learned that Grounded and Pentiment are both coming to the Nintendo Switch. Following that, a Bethesda social media channel accidentally made public Hi-Fi Rush’s PlayStation 5 announcement trailer. It was quickly taken down, but the damage was done.

Seemingly accepting defeat, Microsoft has now officially confirmed that Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded and Pentiment are the four games that were discussed in the company’s business event a week ago, the same event in which Phil Spencer refused to name the games.

In a post on Xbox.com, Microsoft listed the four games, their platforms and their release dates.

• Pentiment – PS4, PS5 on February 22
• Hi-Fi RUSH – PS5 on March 19
• Grounded – PS5 and Switch on April 16  
• Sea of Thieves – PS5 on April 30

Notably, Hi-Fi Rush is not listed as coming to the Nintendo Switch despite what various leaks and rumours suggested. While it’s possible that Microsoft is still holding back on that announcement, perhaps in deference to Nintendo, it would seem strange not to reveal it now that the cat is out of the bag.

Also worth noting is that Sea of Thieves isn’t going to Switch, either. However, both it and Grounded are getting full cross-play support across all platforms which I’m sure will be a huge boon to their playerbases.

Although Phil Spencer was quick to reassure people that it’s just these four games coming to other platforms, later interviews and Xbox’s own unwillingness to categorically state that no other Xbox exclusives will transition over paints these four titles as forward scouts whose job is to test the waters before Xbox jumps in. If these games do well, I fully expect to see more Xbox “exclusives” coming to other platforms in the future.