Summary
A new retro-style indie RPG titledSea of Starsis arriving on Xbox Game Pass, as well as PlayStation Plus, on day one later this summer. Both Xbox andPlayStation’s subscription serviceshave been a big stage for day one indie releases over the years, however, it’s never been the case for a single game to launch on both services simultaneously.
Sea of Starsis a turn-based RPG from Sabotage Studio, the indie squad behind 2018’s hit gameThe Messenger. Inspired by classic JRPGs,Sea of Starssports a beautiful retro pixel art style in aZelda-like top down perspective. Citing direct inspiration from games likeIllusion of Gaia,Chrono Trigger, andSuper Mario RPG,Sea of Starsis looking to be the premier experience for fans of ’90s SNES RPGs. Sabotage Studio even went as far as to work with legendary composer Yasunori Mitsuda, responsible for the music ofChrono Trigger,Chrono Cross, andXenoblade Chronicles 3,forSea of Stars’music.
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It’s been officially known since last month thatSea of Starswill be launching day and date onto Xbox Game Pass. However, on Twitter, PlayStation made the unexpected and unprecedented announcement thatSea of Starswill also belaunching onto PlayStation Pluson day one as well, on August 29. This is a first for both Xbox and PlayStation. While there have certainly been games in the past that have left one service and joined the other, there’s never been a game that’s premiered on both platform’s subscription services on the same day.
While unlikely, it would be interesting to learn who securedSea of Stars’launch first and what allowed this to happen. Usually a game launching day one on a subscription service would forbid it from doing the same on the competitor’s service. Rights to marketing typically comes with a Game Pass or PS Plus launch as well.Sea of Stars' simultaneouslaunch on Game Passand PS Plus could simply be an anomaly. On the other hand, this unprecedented situation could potentially open the door for future titles, big or small, to follow suit as subscription services grow ever more prominent in the industry.
Sea of Starsis landing in the middle of a jam-packed late August window with big game releases like such as EA’sImmortals of AveumandFromSoftware’s long-awaitedArmored Core 6. Sabotage Studio’s retro turn-based RPG will have company on its August 29 release date as well, as fellow indie titles likeGoodbye Volcano Highand the Quantic Dream-publishedUnder the Wavesare set to release alongside it. Though incredibly unique,Sea of Starswill have tons of competition around its release date. Perhaps being the first ever game to launch day one on Game Pass and PS Plus will give it a leg up.
Sea of Starsis coming out on August 29 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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