Back in September, in what was quite possibly the biggest gaming news of the year, Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. Naturally this got gamers on other platforms such as PlayStation and Nintendo wondering whether or not this means that future Bethesda titles will become Xbox exclusives – especially The Elder Scrolls 6.
When Microsoft purchased Minecraft developer Majong Studios, fans took comfort that Microsoft not only continued to release Minecraft on multiple platforms, but it also become a cross-platform, multiplayer title too. Many of us hope that this would remain the case for leading Bethesda titles including DOOM, Dishonored, Fallout, Elder Scrolls and the forthcoming Starfield. However, it seems that might not be the case.
Xbox chief Phil Spencer has since revealed that despite the Bethesda acquisition, the yet-to-be released Death Loop and GhostWire: Tokyo will still have their PS5 timed exclusivity deals honoured.
However, a new interview with Kotaku paints a muddier picture, with Spencer hinting that The Elder Scrolls 6 might end up being an Xbox exclusive.
During the interview, Kotaku’s Stephen Totillo asks: “Is it possible to recoup a $7.5 billion investment if you don’t sell Elder Scrolls 6 on the PlayStation?” To which Phil Spencer simply replies “yes,” adding that the purchase of ZeniMax “was not done to take games away from another player base like that.”
Yet, later in the interview, Spencer does not entirely rule out the possibility of Bethesda’s Xbox exclusivity much further down the line, surpassing that of Death Loop and GhostWire: Tokyo being exclusive to PC and the Microsoft brand, which could very well include the likes of The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield.
Here’s what Phil Spencer said on the future of Bethesda titles:
“We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games. But I’ll also say in the model—I’m just answering directly the question that you had—when I think about where people are going to be playing and the number of devices that we had, and we have xCloud and PC and Game Pass and our console base, I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us. Whatever that means.”
I know this doesn’t say for certain that the likes of The Elder Scrolls 6 will be exclusive to Xbox and PC, but it’s interesting that Spencer did not use that opportunity to rule console exclusivity out, instead, he kind of danced around the subject.
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Featured Image Credit: Microsoft/Bethesda