Xbox and PlayStation fans go wild over world-first free game

XBOX Game Pass gets free games added to it every month, with some big hitters from time to time dominating conversation. 

Sony’s answer to Game Pass, PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue, gets similar updates, though it seems to be a little less frequent. 

While big games from major publishers are usually the talk of the town, sometimes smaller indie games start picking up attention too, especially when they’re added to Game Pass or PS Plus. 

One game that’s got everybody talking at the moment is Sea of Stars, an upcoming turn-based RPG that’s styled after classic games like Chrono Trigger and Breath of Fire. 

The game is being developed by Sabotage Studio, who also developed The Messenger, a very well received metroidvania game that was released back in 2018. 

Sea of Stars is a prequel to The Messenger, so fans of that game should expect heaps of exciting references and callbacks when playing. 

It’s even got music tracks composed by Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda, in addition to tracks from Sabotage’s in-house composer and audio designer, Eric W. Brown. 

All of that is exciting, as is the fact that the game’s pixel art is absolutely gorgeous, but it’s not the main reason fans are going wild for the game. 

Sea of Stars will be the first ever game to launch on both Game Pass and PS Plus on launch day, something that was thought to be impossible. 

Typically when a game appears on Game Pass or PS Plus on day one, it’s tied to some sort of exclusivity agreement with that platform. 

We’ve seen that recently with games like Capcom’s Exoprimal, or Persona 3, 4, and 5, all of which were available only on Xbox Game Pass. 

PS Plus rarely gets games on day one, but the few it has had have been exclusive to PlayStation altogether, and not available on Xbox. 

Because the game will be included at no extra cost to Game Pass and PS Plus subscribers, it’s effectively free for most players on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation. 

The only platform that won’t be able to play Sea of Stars at no extra cost is the Nintendo Switch, which only features retro games as part of its Nintendo Switch Online service. 

Sea of Stars will launch on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2023. 

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.