Microsoftâs head of gaming has addressed the subject of whether The Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox exclusive.
Following this weekâs release of Starfield, Bethesda Game Studiosâ next game will be a new entry in the long-running fantasy RPG series.
Starfield is available for Xbox Series X/S, PC via Windows and Steam, and Microsoftâs Game Pass subscription service, which lets users play titles on a range of devices including mobile phones and even some smart TVs.
It’s Bethesda Game Studiosâ first release since Microsoft acquired its parent company ZeniMax Media in 2021. Notably Starfield is not available on PlayStation consoles, which will also be the case for an upcoming Indiana Jones game set to be published by Bethesda Softworks.
In an interview with Bloomberg this week, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was asked whether Elder Scrolls 6 will also be an exclusive and how Microsoft decides whether itâs on âthe right trackâ with this release strategy.
“We look at it on a case-by-case basis with the games that we build,â he replied. âWe want to make sure our games are available in so many different places â on our Xbox consoles, on PC, also via cloud, these games can come to almost any web-enabled device.
“We’re looking at millions and millions of players who will have access to Starfield and other Xbox Game Studios games. It’s really about giving players choice around how they want to play and they build their library of games.”
In a November 2021 interview, Spencer appeared to suggest Elder Scrolls 6 wouldnât be available on PlayStation, when he said adopting an exclusivity strategy âis not about punishing any other platformâ.
However, giving evidence in July as part of Microsoftâs legal battle with the FTC, Spencer was vague about whether he had previously made a public statement saying the game would be Xbox-only.
“[With Elder Scrolls 6], itâs so far out itâs hard to understand what the platforms will even be⦠Weâre talking about a game thatâs five-plus years away,â he said (via Axios’ Stephen Totilo).”
Prior to Microsoft completing its ZeniMax acquisition, Starfield director Todd Howard, who is also directing Elder Scrolls 6, said it was âhard to imagineâ the latter being released exclusively for Xbox platforms.
However, in an interview published this week, Howard said Starfieldâs Xbox console exclusivity resulted in the creation of a better product.
Bethesda publishing boss Pete Hines said last month that Elder Scrolls 6 was âin early developmentâ, but that fans shouldnât expect more news about the game to be revealed until “a few years after” Starfield’s launch.
colbat45 on September 10th, 2023 at 17:16 UTC »
At this point I’d be shocked if it’s not exclusive.
soupspin on September 10th, 2023 at 16:13 UTC »
It’s going to be. “Case-by-case” is basically just a loophole for them, so when every Bethesda game is exclusive they can just say “in this case” it’s exclusive
SupremeMorpheus on September 10th, 2023 at 14:53 UTC »
Basically a whole lot of maybes. That tracks for something so early in development