When Call of the Sea was first announced back in the summer of 2020, the relatively smaller-scale game drew large-scale attention for being one of the first Xbox exclusives confirmed to be coming to the Series X. Developer Out of the Blue has recently hinted that this Lovecraft-inspired adventure will soon no longer be exclusive to Microsoft’s platforms.
Call of the Sea is a puzzle-adventure game and the debut title for Spanish developer Out of the Blue. The game released in December of 2020 was positively received by the industry, earning a Metacritic score of 81 for the Xbox One version. Critics praised the intriguing story and generally clever puzzle design, noting that some of the puzzles could be very tedious.
In the context of its release, Call of the Sea was recognized as a showcase for the powerful new Xbox Series X, sporting 4k resolution and 60 frames-per-second gameplay. As an well-received Xbox exclusive available through Game Pass on the day of its release, Call of the Sea appeared to be a solid win for the exclusive-hungry Xbox platform. On April 7, 2021, however, Out of the Blue tweeted a mysterious image that appears to be a zoomed-in portion of a larger picture.
Followers on twitter were quick to guess that the image was a part of the PlayStation logo, given the color scheme and curved design. Supporting the notion even further are the words that accompany the picture: "Nothing but greatness awaits," which clearly draws inspiration from the recognizable PlayStation slogan. With the 6-month anniversary of the release of Call of the Sea quickly approaching, it appears PlayStation owners will now also have the chance to tackle Call of the Sea’s dreaded drum puzzle and other challenges.
While this is certainly good news for puzzle-loving PlayStation owners, it also speaks to the ongoing paradigm shift the industry. More games are being made available on more platforms than ever before. Most recently, the industry was shocked to find that the long-time PlayStation exclusive MLB The Show 21 would not only be released on Xbox, but would be available day one on Game Pass. Though it has become clear that going multi-platform was not Sony’s decision, it nevertheless demonstrates the subtle blurring of the lines between the consoles that players are enjoying.
This line-blurring is seen even more clearly in technology innovations such as crossplay. Since 2019’s Modern Warfare arguably brought crossplay into the mainstream, new releases like Outriders are now expected to feature it. Call of the Sea may be a smaller game from a small studio, but it can be counted among the games currently causing a massive splash in the console gaming industry.
Call of the Sea is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series.