Microsoft has announced sales accolades for Sea of Thieves, Rare's open-seas pirate adventure, claiming it as the fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation.

Over two million players have joined in on the first week, prompting Microsoft to not only call it the above-mentioned fastest-selling first-party new IP, but also declare it the best selling Microsoft Studios game on Windows 10. There are a number of qualifiers in that statement, but Microsoft marketing boss Aaron Greenberg has pointed out that these accolades do not include Game Pass numbers.

These numbers also make the game a strong success for Microsoft who has been struggling in recent years with first-party development and sales growth. While Game Pass has been going for some time, Sea of Thieves is the first title from Microsoft first party to launch on the subscription service.

[Source: Gamasutra]



Our Take

Microsoft is likely touting these numbers as means to assure other publishers and developers that Game Pass will not inhibit high sales and will instead be value-added. It's more than just analysts watching to see how Microsoft's ambitious (and risky) first-party-on-Game Pass plan works.