Xbox Hits: Oblivion Remastered, Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5 Outsell PS5 Games

Microsoft's multiplatform strategy is clearly paying dividends, as evidenced by their successful launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. Sony's PlayStation blog post for April 2025 highlights this success, revealing the top-selling games on the PlayStation Store in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

In the U.S. and Canada, Microsoft games dominated the PS5's non-free-to-play download chart, with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon 5 securing the top three spots. Europe saw a similar trend, with Forza Horizon 5 leading, followed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Minecraft.

Additionally, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, backed by Microsoft for a day-one Game Pass launch and featured in Xbox showcase broadcasts, also ranked highly on both charts. Microsoft-owned titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 from Activision and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from Bethesda further bolstered Microsoft's presence on the charts.

These results underscore 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, especially with the PS5 eagerly awaiting a game like Forza Horizon 5. The April launch of this acclaimed racer was highly anticipated. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered satisfies the demand for Bethesda's immersive worlds across PC and console, while Minecraft continues to thrive, boosted by the viral success of the Minecraft movie.

This trend represents the new normal for Microsoft, which recently announced Gears of War: Reloaded for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, set to release in August. It seems increasingly likely that Halo, once an Xbox exclusive, will also transition to multiplatform.

Last year, Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer emphasized that there are no "red lines" in their first-party lineup when considering multiplatform releases, including Halo. In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer stated that every Xbox game is a candidate for multiplatform distribution. "I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say 'thou must not,'" he remarked.

Spencer has articulated that Xbox's multiplatform strategy is partly driven by the need to increase revenue for Microsoft's gaming division, especially following the $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."

He further explained, "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."

Former Xbox executive Peter Moore, speaking to IGN last year, suggested that bringing Halo to PlayStation has likely been a topic of discussion 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 said.

He added, "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?"

Moore acknowledged the significance of Halo to Xbox's identity, stating, "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 the console's value is being diminished by the lack of exclusives and Microsoft's marketing strategy. However, 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?" he said. "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."