How does a 1st party game on a completely different platform affect another 1st party game on another platform? Especially when there both marketed towards difference audiences and are completely different genres?

I understand Multiplats do this that are similar genres however Sea Of Thieves is not on the PS4 and GOW is not on X1 so they don't compete with each other. 

Also if your wondering which game will appeal to a wider range audience it isn't GoW. You could basically release SoTs any time of the year as long as its separate from other MMOs like Battle For Azeroth etc. GoW needs to be separate from other action games if your aiming to milk the most sales.

I'd hope so as its got some stiff competition in Farcry, I thought it was also going up against God of War, but after no release date at PSX yesterday (unless I missed it) and Balrog (sp) moaning about needing more time, I do wonder if thats coming out on the 22nd as leaked.

Of course GOW and SOT are not the same type of game on the same platform, but the success of a game when there are other big games around and being talked about/marketed can have a serious impact on success. That also suggests that users don't have both consoles. The AAA space needs to be looked at as a whole and not broken down into segments of this type of user or that type of user. It's a crowd situation, the games being talked about the most can impact other games.

Personally I think SOT will struggle and thats why MS need to market it big... March is a big month, so depending on what else is releasing, it will have an impact. A good example is crash bandicoot, released at a relatively quiet time, sold a bucket load. The game would not have sold as much had it released in march.

How will GOW affect Sea of Thieves when there isnt a common platform that both are on? A person with an Xbox or PC cant go for GOW anyways, so its a non-factor there. Just like how a PS4 owner cant go for sea of thieves. Yes, there is a tiny fraction of people who have both machines, but again, thats just a tiny fraction.

Farcry 5 however, will hurt SoT sales.

I too also think Sea of Thieves will have disappointing sales, but not because of GOW.

Anyways, that particular week in March looks stacked. So Yakuza 6, Sea of Thieves, God of War, A Way Out, and Farcry 5 all in seven days. Amazing.

If you release any game in a quiet month it will always have a chance to selling more. However GoW and SoTs don't affect each others sales at all. Again, different platforms, different audiences and different genres and rating systems.

Here is 1 of many good examples and ill even make it easier for your argument by pretending these games are multiplatform on there competitors platforms..

eg. A 14 year old CANNOT buy GoW4. Done.

So how does GoW4 affect SoTs sales? It doesn't.

Your flaw is that you are thinking there is not a single gamer on the fence about which console to buy.  The fact is, there are many.  You put a PS4 w/ GoW against XBO w/ SoT in March, guess which way most of those people on the fence are going.  Companies do this stuff all the time. Surprised you haven't noticed this in the 4 years you have been here.

Terrible release date. Pathetic death in Far Cry 5's shadow.

Your talking about different things. PS4 will outsell X1 regardless of the game it has bundled for starters. I am referring to the games affecting each other sales not which game moves more hardware because that's a stupid way to look at it. GOW4 will sell millions based off PS4s success while SoTs wont have that advantage. 

Back to my point is these two games are completely different to each other. Gamers who want to play an openworld MMO will choose to buy SoTs, gamers who want a bloody Action adventure will buy GoW4. 

GoW4 will most likely be heavily bundled compared to SoTs and PS4s rapid sales compared to X1s will mean GoW4 will sell more by default. However GoW4 and SoT customers aren't affected because again different games. Apples to Oranges.

You are thinking to narrowly, if you own a PS4 and an Xbox, or perhaps a PS4 and a PC, and both games are coming out and you want both games, you can only get one, then of course there is an impact. You are thinking that one game is only suited to one type of player and only to someone who owns a PS4 console. SOT is aimed at both PC and Xbox and they will want to sell as many as possible, thinking that other big games have no impact on sales of other games is totally the wrong thought.

AAA game that is violent and mythology and a AAA game that is with pirates and MMO based can definitely appeal to the same player.

I'm having a hard time envisioning this game as a hit. It might perform decently on Xbox but competition on PC for games of this type is fierce.