As one of the most high profile Xbox One exclusive games to be released this year, Sea of Thieves already has a lot of eyeballs on it. The beta testing period of the seafaring pirate adventure game drew a lot of interest and it's clear that many players on PC and Xbox One are already planning on buying the game. That may not be enough for Microsoft, though, as the company has now announced plans to give away free copies of Sea of Thieves.

In a post on the Major Nelson blog today, Microsoft announced that between March 18-24, it will be giving away a free copy of Sea of Thieves with every purchase of an Xbox One X console. "The promotion will be available in most Xbox One markets starting March 18 through March 24, but start and end dates will vary by market," explains the post, which encourages potential Xbox One X buyers to ask at their local retailer.

The announcement post also states that this copy of Sea of Thieves will be available as a digital download (rather than as a physical copy). Since the game is available through the Play Anywhere program, the promotion will also mean that players will be able to play Sea of Thieves on their Windows 10 PC as well as their new Xbox One X console.

This Xbox One X promotion isn't the only new method that Microsoft is testing when it comes to getting games like Sea of Thieves into people's hands (or onto their hard drives). Earlier this year the company also confirmed that first-party games would be available through the Xbox Game Pass subscription and that Sea of Thieves would be part of this. This meant that by subscribing to the Netflix-like game buffet service, players would be able to play Sea of Thieves as much as they want without having to purchase the game outright.

The promotion and the Game Pass service also reflects Microsoft's shifting stance when it comes to making games. The company is less interested in selling consoles as it is in getting people playing its games as a service style titles for a long time, with those players then spending money on microtransactions and DLC expansions. That's an interesting business plan, to say the least, but if it means that Microsoft plans to make playing its games more affordable, then few people will complain.