Concerns about Starfield “skipping Xbox” helped lead Microsoft to buy Bethesda

So far, much of the legal and regulatory drama surrounding Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision has centered on concerns about the possibility of Microsoft making the flagship Call of Duty franchise cross-platform on the Xbox console exclusively. But Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer now says there are separate concerns surrounding the game starfieldA potential PlayStation exclusivity helped drive Microsoft’s 2020 purchase of Bethesda Softworks parent ZeniMax.

In testimony Friday regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block an Activision purchase, Spencer pointed to how, in 2020, Sony would strike paid deals that included Bethesda titles. deathlop And GhostWire Tokyo It will ship on PlayStation months before the Xbox version is available. So the discussion is about Starfield—when we heard it starfield It’s also possible that if Xbox ends up being overtaken, we can’t be in a position as a third-place console where we lag further behind our content ownership, so we’ve had to secure content to stay viable in business,” Spencer said on the platform.

These concerns weren’t entirely based on Sony’s past practices, either. Immediately after the announcement of the Bethesda purchase, former Kinda Funny host Imran Khan mentioned that “Sony was negotiating a timed exclusivity starfield As recently as a few months ago.”

Microsoft concerns about the lack of Xbox starfield More than a little ironic now, though, as both the FTC and Sony say Microsoft’s exclusive take on the console version of starfield It is key evidence of why the company’s proposed Activision deal was not executed. But Microsoft argues that its efforts to secure Xbox exclusives actually increase competition in the console market by helping the Xbox fall to third place in market share in the “console wars”.

“[We] “We needed to do a lot of work with a lot of partners given the competitive situation we had against the market leader,” said Spencer. “Sony is the market leader with great capabilities and a strong competitor…we try to compete, but as I said, over the past 20 years, we’ve failed to do so effectively.”

Elsewhere in his testimony on Friday, Spencer declined to confirm whether or not Bethesda is coming The Elder Scroll VI It will come to non-Xbox consoles. “I think we were a little unclear about what platforms it’s being launched on, given how remote the game is,” he said. “It is very difficult for us now to solve the problem.”

This uncertainty contradicts a 2021 interview where Spencer is reported to have said Manuscripts of the Sixth Elder will reflect starfield By appearing only on Xbox and PC. But we’ll have to wait a while to see for sure if that’s true; The game, which was first announced in 2018, is “more than five years away,” Spencer said on the platform, a time frame that would eventually put Manuscripts of the Sixth Elder Launch after at least 17 years Skyrim2011 edition.

Regarding Call of Duty, Spencer now swears an oath on the witness stand that “It is my obligation, and my testimony, that we will continue to ship future versions of Call of Duty on the Sony PlayStation 5…of a PlayStation in my view may cause irreparable harm to the brand Xbox commercial”.