It's the question everyone's been eager to have answered since news broke that Microsoft was acquiring Bethesda and parent company Zenimax Media last year, and now Xbox head Phil Spencer has clarified Microsoft's stance on exclusivity for future Bethesda games.
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Speaking as part of tonight's lengthy Xbox and Bethesda 'roundtable' event, Spencer chose to address the issue directly. 'I see it in the community, I listen to the podcasts and all the questions,' he said, 'so I'm going to try and be as clear as I can because I just think it's fair.'
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- The Elder Scrolls: Blades. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Wolfenstein: Youngblood. An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire Arx Fatalis Brink Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Deathloop Dishonored Dishonored 2 Dishonored: Death of the Outsider DOOM DOOM II DOOM 2 Xbox Live Arcade DOOM 3 DOOM 3.
- Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland.The company was established in 2001 as the spin-off of Bethesda Softworks' development unit, with Bethesda Softworks itself retaining a publishing function.
'Obviously I can't sit here and say every Bethesda game is [an Xbox] exclusive, because we know that's not true,' he explained. 'There's contractual obligations that we're going to see through. We have games that exist on other platforms and we're going to go and support those games on the platforms they're on. There's communities of players - we love those communities and will continue to invest in them - and even in the future there might be...either contractual things or legacy on different platforms that we'll go do.'
'But if you're an Xbox customer,' Spencer continued, 'the thing I want you to know is this is about delivering great exclusive games for you that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists. And that's our goal, that's why we're doing this, that's the root of this partnership that we're building - and the creative capability we'll be able to bring to market for Xbox customers is going to be the best it's ever been for Xbox after we're done here.'
Set mostly in the year 1922, Jack Walters, a mentally unstable private detective is hired to investigate in Innsmouth, a strange and mysterious town that has cut itself from the rest of the United States. Stars: Marc Biagi, Deem Bristow, Brook Chalmers, Scott Dreier.
The takeaway, then, is that games currently available on other platforms shouldn't be affected by Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media, nor will pre-existing exclusivity deals, such as the timed exclusivity windows previously announced for Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo on PS5. Future games, however, will be exclusive 'where Game Pass exists', currently meaning Xbox consoles, PC, and any platform capable of accessing the service via cloud.
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And while there was little in the way of news for anyone hoping to learn more about those future games during tonight's roundtable, Microsoft and Bethesda have now confirmed more will be revealed during a special showcase event scheduled for this summer.