Xbox Is the PS5’s Best Friend Now—and That's Wild

Remember the console wars? Xbox vs PlayStation, Halo vs Uncharted, Phil Spencer vs Jim Ryan memes? Yeah, those days are pretty much gone. The sales charts for April 2025 just confirmed it: PS5’s best-selling games in both Europe and North America weren’t PlayStation exclusives... they were all published by Xbox.

Let that sink in.

“Nowadays, everything is an Xbox, and that includes Sony's PS5.”

That quote came straight from the latest PS5 sales data. For Europe, the top downloaded game in April was Forza Horizon 5, followed by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and Minecraft. All three are owned and published by Microsoft. In the U.S. and Canada, it was basically the same, but Oblivion took the crown, with Minecraft second and Forza Horizon 5 third.

And these aren’t just “meh” ports. These games are full-featured, polished experiences on PS5. Forza Horizon 5 even got its own Digital Foundry tech review on PS5 Pro, showcasing how beautifully it runs on Sony hardware. This isn’t just Microsoft tossing its leftovers to the competition—it’s a coordinated multiplatform strategy.

What’s Driving This Xbox Surge on PS5?

This all ties back to Microsoft’s “This is an Xbox” campaign that launched in late 2024. It was a bit of a meme when it started, Xbox games popping up on PS5 and Switch with big green branding—but the results speak for themselves. Microsoft isn’t just promoting Game Pass anymore; it’s pushing full multiplatform dominance.

“Microsoft began its ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign in November last year as it builds a ‘future defined by player choice’.”

Yeah, the messaging might sound a little corporate, but it’s working. Microsoft is turning its competitors' consoles into Xbox storefronts. Sony players are paying full price for Microsoft-published games, and they’re doing it gladly.

Let’s break down the biggest sellers:

• Forza Horizon 5. A sprawling open-world racer set in beautiful Mexico, with hundreds of cars, dynamic weather, and drop-in online play. It’s been one of Xbox’s flagship titles for years, and now it’s a hit on PS5 too.
• Oblivion Remastered. Bethesda’s 2006 cult RPG reborn with modern visuals and quality-of-life improvements. This one dropped at the end of April and exploded in popularity. It pulled in over 216,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. On consoles, it’s topping charts thanks to nostalgia, memes, and pure RPG excellence.

• Minecraft. Do we even need to explain Minecraft? It’s eternal. Cross-platform, endlessly moddable, and still printing money.

Also charting: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a visually striking, French-developed JRPG-style game that Xbox showcased heavily and included on Game Pass. It landed at #4 in Europe and #6 in North America on PS5. Then there’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the first-person cinematic adventure that used to be Xbox-exclusive but is now available on PS5—and selling well.

From Exclusive to Everywhere

All of this is the result of years of Microsoft acquisitions finally paying off. Back in 2023, Microsoft closed the $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard. That gave them not just Call of Duty, but also influence over legacy titles like Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk. In January, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the top-selling game across both Xbox and PlayStation. Now, the trend continues.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the best-selling game across both Xbox and PlayStation over the previous quarter.”

For decades, the idea of seeing Forza on a PlayStation was unthinkable. Same for Elder Scrolls. But now? Players just want good games, no matter the logo. And Microsoft figured out how to sell to everyone—even Sony fans.

From Console Wars to Content Wars

We’re no longer living in a world where console identity matters. We’re in the era of content. Sony still has its killer exclusives—Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Rise of the Ronin—but Microsoft’s shift to multiplatform is hitting a nerve. The Xbox brand isn’t just a box anymore; it’s a publishing empire.

And PlayStation gamers are reaping the benefits. By the way, have you read the leaks and rumors about PlayStation 6 on our site earlier? There's Sony's handheld console controversial details.

“Forza Horizon is deservedly one of Xbox's most successful franchises,” wrote Eurogamer’s Tom Orry. “PlayStation owners should be rubbing their hands together with glee.”

Exactly. The new question isn’t “which console should I buy?”—it’s “how can I play the most games in the most convenient way?” Microsoft’s bet on openness and Sony’s willingness to cash in are rewriting the rulebook.

So yeah, this is an Xbox. Even when it’s a PlayStation.