Xbox wants to expand its ecosystem, and as part of this, it recently announced four first-party titles for other console platforms.
One of these is Rare's online multiplayer pirate game Sea Of Thieves, which sails onto the PlayStation 5 on April 30th, 2024. For anyone who wants to play on this particular system, it's recently been confirmed via the PlayStation Store that the game will unsurprisingly require users to either log into a (free) Microsoft account or create one.
"Microsoft account registration, acceptance of Microsoft Services Agreement and Privacy Statement required to play."
There's no way around it, and ultimately anyone who does end up playing on PlayStation will likely be factored into Microsoft's gaming data going forward. Of course, it's not just for the sake of it. As highlighted by Stephen Totilo of Game File, linking a Microsoft account and logging in allows users to access multiple cross-platform benefits including invitations, crew voice chat and shared progression.
Totilo has also shared some additional information about the three other Xbox games now on other platforms. Pentiment can simply be played (with no login required) and also includes trophies on PlayStation. As for Grounded, it requires Nintendo and Sony's subscriptions for online play, and a Microsoft account will enable cross-play, save, shared worlds and more.