One of 2025's Highest-Rated Games Quietly Confirmed for Another Platform

An official Xbox Store listing that went live without any fanfare has quietly confirmed that Sword of the Sea is coming to the Series X and Series S. It would thus appear that one of the highest-rated titles of 2025 is finally on the verge of ending its console exclusivity, although some questions about this unexpected new version of Sword of the Sea remain unanswered.

The third title from Los Angeles indie studio Giant Squid, Sword of the Sea is a minimalist surfing adventure that originally launched for the PlayStation 5 and PC on August 19, 2025. Its debut generated a lot of positive buzz, as underlined by its "Mighty" rating on OpenCritic, based on 51 professional reviews with an average score of 87 and a 96% recommendation rate. Together, those data points place it in the 98th percentile of all titles in the aggregator's database. Reviewers praised Sword of the Sea's smooth traversal, stylish presentation, and ethereal ambient music, among other qualities.

Sword of the Sea Xbox Version Gets Surprise Confirmation

Sword of the Sea appeared on the Xbox Store in late October 2026, roughly 14 months following its initial launch. The listing materialized entirely out of the blue, with the game's official website and social media channels making no mention of an Xbox version. While the page still identifies Giant Squid as the game's sole developer, it also states that this quietly confirmed port is being published by Fictions, formerly known as Take-Two Interactive's Private Division and nowadays owned by Colorado-based Haveli Investments.

While Sword of the Sea had a day-and-date Steam release, the newly surfaced Xbox Store page makes no mention of its PC version, instead listing only the Series X/S console line under supported platforms. No pre-order option, price, or release date can currently be found on the page, leaving it unclear exactly how soon the newly confirmed Xbox port is planned to arrive.

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Sword of the Sea Might Be Coming to Xbox Game Pass

Its Surprise Xbox Store Appearance Matches Some Established XGP Catalog Update Patterns

The Fictions publisher credit is arguably the more interesting detail, not least because Giant Squid did not use a publisher for the existing PlayStation 5 and PC versions. Not only was the studio's renowned game given a day-and-date PS5 release, Sword of the Sea was even a day-one addition to the PS Plus Extra and Premium catalog. Given those circumstances, it is possible that the adventure is now being lined up for Xbox Game Pass as well.

Although the newly surfaced Xbox Store page makes no mention of Microsoft's subscription service, existing PC titles sometimes join the Game Pass catalog on the same day their Series X/S versions launch, or previously, their Xbox One ports. Microsoft has also financially incentivized such Xbox console ports for years. When Game Pass and Xbox console debuts coincide, Xbox Store pages can appear before corresponding subscription library updates, and those early listings do not always carry the Xbox Game Pass tag from the outset.

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Sword of the Sea

Adventure Exploration Systems Released August 19, 2025 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Giant Squid Publisher(s) Giant Squid Number of Players Single-player 6 Images

Genre(s) Adventure, Exploration

Source: Howerev / Reddit

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