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Phil Spencer: Bethesda Will Be 'Very, Very Critical to Our Progress Going Forward'

Phil Spencer: Bethesda Will Be 'Very, Very Critical to Our Progress Going Forward' - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 June 2021 / 4,057 Views

Microsoft in September 2020 announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Bethesda parent company ZeniMax in a deal worth $7.5 billion. The deal is set to close sometime this year. 

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer in the latest Xbox podcast from Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb said that the Bethesda acquisition is "very, very critical" for Xbox going forward and is excited for the deal to close. 

"I’m excited about 2021, and Bethesda is an important part of that," said Spencer. "2021 is when we’ll get final approval. I feel really good about that. Everything is on track.

"We’ll start getting to some of the planning that we can do with them. Right now we’re really hands-off with them, as they continue to do the work that they’re doing because we don’t own them yet."

Spencer is excited about Starfield, as well as announced and unannounced games from Bethesda. 

"Those teams are going to be very, very critical to our progress going forward," Spencer added. "I can’t wait to get it closed so that we can start working like one company.

"I’m incredibly excited about Starfield and a lot of other things, some announced and some not announced that they’re working on. I just think they’re going to be an incredible addition to our studios."


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


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21 Comments
Tridrakious (on 04 January 2021)

You spent $7.5 billion on them... I would hope they were a critical part of the future for Xbox. Otherwise, it would be a terrible acquisition.

  • +8
Darwinianevolution (on 03 January 2021)

I am legitimately curious about Microsoft's influence over Bethesda. The other Zenimax studios are fine as they are, and they'll be most likely left alone, but Bethesda has pissed off a lot people over the last couple of years. They are the ones who need a reform the most, and I'm not sure Microsoft will allow a "Fallout 76" debacle to happen. Then again, they did allow Sea of Thieves to launch criminally poor of content...

  • +7
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@shikamaru317 Maybe, but that's part of what I'm worried about. They are developing TES6 and Starfield at the same time, both trying to be bigger than anything they've done so far, with extra pressure from their higher ups the game releases as stable as possible (after 76, even regular Bethesda jankyness is not going to cut it). Assuming everything's gone good so far, they will still need to be excellent to make up for 76's launch and overall state and to make Microsoft happy. And if there are problems behind curtains, it's going to be hell for them. Looking at how fast Cyberpunk crashed and burned, the comeuppances for overhyping and underdelivering AAA games hit them even faster and harder to them.

  • +4
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You're probably right, although it's going to be very akward for them to explain how TES6 may end up releasing for the XBox 5 launch, and even then needing a delay to adjust it to its specs.

  • +4
Azzanation Darwinianevolution (on 03 January 2021)

Sea of Thieves was not a Microsoft decision.

  • -1

@Azzanation How so? It was a Microsoft exclusive made by an studio owned by Microsoft, how was it not their responsability?

  • 0
SecondWar Darwinianevolution (on 04 January 2021)

@shikamaru I feel what you’ve said about TES6 is probably right, which is why I’m surprised Bethesda haven’t announced a port of TES5 to the 9th Gen consoles.

  • 0
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Azzanation Darwinianevolution (on 04 January 2021)

@Darwin - Sea of Thieves is a Microsoft property however that game was created by Rares own freedom. Microsoft did not influence the game or its methods. It was all within Rare.

  • -1

@Azzanation Yeah, but as a publisher/owner of the studio, Microsoft are also responsible for the state of the product at release. They are the ones checking up on the developement's progress and they decide whether a game releases or not. If Retro Studios made a poor Metroid game, Nintendo would get the blame as well, and with good reason.

  • 0
Azzanation Darwinianevolution (on 04 January 2021)

@Darwin - Blaming the publisher for the developers game is never the right way to go. If anything, you should be blaming Xbox not Microsoft and even than, Its Rare's fault if people didn't like SoTs. Bill Gates doesn't play the games they make and say "Yup this meets my standards". Also SoTs is not a bad game, it had many Betas before launch and had good overall feedback and the game grew past its expectations.

If Retro made a bad game under Nintendo, i wouldn't be blaming Nintendo, ill be blaming retro. Only reason i would blame Nintendo is if Nintendo forced their hand and pressured its release.

  • 0
sales2099 (on 04 January 2021)

Can’t wait for this deal to close. Also realized Bethesda skipped any E3 like briefing last year. They likely holding a lot back to reveal once they are Xbox.

  • +5
NobleTeam360 (on 04 January 2021)

Well, I would imagine so as they bring two huge franchises in Fallout and Elder Scrolls under the Xbox umbrella. I think the question everyone is waiting for an answer to is whether those two franchises will be multiplat (on PS consoles) or Xbox/PC exclusive.

  • 0
VAMatt NobleTeam360 (on 04 January 2021)

I'm guessing that the mainline games in those franchises will remain multiplat for the foreseeable future. They will probably release later on PS, and may have aome XB/,PC exclusive content. But, as MS has already been moving towards more widespread access to their games, I just can't see them leaving all of that ES and Fallout money on the table by skipping Playstation.

  • -3
KratosLives NobleTeam360 (on 05 January 2021)

Timed exclusive. They will squeeze out as much money from xbox sales and game pass before monetizing from ps5.

  • -2
VAMatt NobleTeam360 (on 06 January 2021)

Timed exclusive seems likely, at least in some cases.

  • 0
AFattyGamer (on 03 January 2021)

Now that's what I like to see Microsoft. Make Sony on edge. I need Sony to take Microsoft even more serious than ever. A hungry Sony is a focused Sony. I need that.

  • -3
Original (on 04 January 2021)
  • -13