Xbox Sold More Pre-Orders Than Any Other Publisher On The PS Store In Q1 2025

Whether you like it or not, Xbox is shifting its strategy this generation. The biggest tell is it releasing Xbox exclusives on other platforms, and the company’s latest earnings call strongly suggests there’s more to come considering how well its newest games have been selling on PlayStation.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella headed up an Xbox earnings call this week during which he covered all the key points from its Q3 FY2025, a period that covers the first quarter of the calendar year, so January 1 through March 31. Among the more notable wins highlighted was the reveal that Xbox was the top pre-order publisher during that period not only on its own store, but on the PlayStation Store too (via Tom Warren).

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Thanks To Some Recent Big Releases, Xbox Games Continue To Dominate PlayStation’s Top Sellers

Insert “This is an Xbox” commercial.

“We ended the quarter as the top publisher by pre-orders and pre-installs on both Xbox and the PlayStation Store,” Nadella noted. The finer details on how exactly that happened weren’t revealed, but there are three Xbox-published games, two of which have now launched, that you can point to for being responsible for Xbox already enjoying so much success on PS5.

Xbox’s PlayStation Strategy Is Going Well

Three Big Games Were Enough For It To Top The Q1 Pre-Order Charts

First up was Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, a game Xbox promised would eventually come to PS5 before it had even arrived on Series X|S. Right after that, launching earlier this week, was Forza Horizon 5. There was a point in April when Indiana Jones and Forza were at the top of PlayStation’s pre-order chart, so every chance Xbox repeats its Q1 feat during this current quarter.

Especially when the third and final Xbox game PlayStation users have been pre-ordering by the boatload is Doom: The Dark Ages. The highly anticipated Doom game is still two weeks away, so two more weeks for Xbox to rack up even more pre-orders. If only Oblivion Remastered hadn’t been shadow-dropped, Xbox could have registered some pre-order numbers there too.

Elsewhere in the earnings call, Nadella confirmed gaming revenue is up five percent, while services revenue, which covers Game Pass, is up eight percent, pointing to Call of Duty and Minecraft as the leading reasons for that. The only area that experienced a drop year-on-year was Xbox’s hardware department, further evidence that the company’s focus has well and truly shifted.

It’s a matter of when rather than if Xbox reveals which of its games will be coming to other platforms in the future. Rumors that Starfield will eventually get the PS5 treatment have been swirling for months, and there might even be a future where older Halo games are available on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles.

• 
  

  

  Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

  
  

  Released

  December 9, 2024
  

  ESRB

  T For Teen // Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence

  Developer(s)

  MachineGames

  Engine

  id Tech 7

  Number of Players

  1

  
  

  
  

• 
  

  

  Forza Horizon 5

  
  

  Released

  November 9, 2021
  

  ESRB

  E for Everyone // In-Game Purchases, Users Interact

  Developer(s)

  Playground Games

  Engine

  Forza Tech

  Multiplayer

  Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer

  Cross-Platform Play

  PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S

  
  

  
  

• 
  

  

  DOOM: The Dark Ages

  
  

  Released

  May 15, 2025
  

  ESRB

  m

  Publisher(s)

  Bethesda Softworks

  Engine

  id Tech

  Multiplayer

  Online Multiplayer