Phil Spencer on The Elder Scrolls VI Xbox Exclusivity: 'We Look at it on a Case-by-Case Basis' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 October 2023 / 6,760 Views
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in an interview with Bloomberg was asked if The Elder Scrolls VI would be an Xbox console exclusive and while Spencer didn't give a direct answer he did say the team makes this decision "on a case-by-case basis with the games that we build."
"We want to make sure our games are available in so many different places," said Spencer. "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."
Microsoft did just release the Bethesda game Starfield on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass, and it was revealed recently Bethesda's and MachineGames' new Indiana Jones game will be an Xbox console exclusive with it also being available on PC and Xbox Game Pass.
Spencer did reveal in June The Elder Scrolls VI is likely five or more years away from release and "it's hard to understand what platforms will even be at this point."
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has sold over 60 million units worldwide since it first released in November 2011.
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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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"...and in this case the game will be an Xbox exclusive"
This is just Phil not wanting to have to hear shit about this for the next 5 or 6 years. Just stay non-committal right now, then tell everybody how it's going to be a year before launch.
It's like they are playing with PS5 players... we all know it will be Xbox exclusive, why not just say it? He said the same thing about Hi-Fi RUSH, Redfall and Starfield.
Downvotes these days are meaningless. I think at least half of them on here are just done because someone thinks that you are on a opposing side of a console war battle. Others are because people disagree with your opinion. I don't really feel like that's the right way to use downvotes, but it is what it is.
Anyway, in answer to your question, I think the reason that it isn't being stated right now is because doing so wouldn't help Microsoft in any way. It just sets them up to hear about it over and over again for several years. It's easier to just put it off.
Phil Spencer does not care about PlayStation 5 players… He cares about the optics with the CMA (and he should be). Not sure if that’s why you are getting the downvote but thinking that Phil Spencer cares about the console wars or toying with the ‘Play Station 5 players’ is ridiculous at best.
I think we should expect all Microsoft studios to be exclusive.
Just like we expect all Sony studios to be exclusive.
Just like we expect all Nintendo studios to be exclusive.
It's not "Playing with players". - It should be the default expectation.
However, if a game does go Multiplatform because it can be justified, then that is a massive benefit to us, the consumer, and the entire gaming community.
I don't think it is. They probably haven't made a decision to keep them all exclusive, so he could be lying if he said it's going to be exclusive and they haven't decided yet. The chances are that almost all Bethesda games are going to be exclusive, of course, but sounds like they haven't decided so, at least yet. I suppose he could elaborate and say how he thinks things are going to turn out, but what's the benefit, really? The game is so far away still that it's not going to make much difference in any direction, regardless of what the decision ends up being.
I think he has a clear claim: that they make decisions on case-by-case basis. It indicates that they don't have a general strategy for exclusivities. It doesn't really reveal how they make the decisions for each game, but I'm not sure their process for those decisions is clear enough to communicate even if they wanted (which they probably don't). Considering the situation, I'm not sure there's any way he could really elaborate much more. It's not as clear as gamers might like, but maybe that's just how it has to be.
You may buy into that claim if you’re so inclined.
I don’t expect much if anything not already multi-platform (like Minecraft) to be produced by them and made available for a PS console from now on.
And that’s not a criticism on them. I stated earlier that it’s just the common sense thing for them to do if they want to differentiate themselves from their competitors and give incentives to consumers to adopt their products and services.
Elder scrolls has been multiplat for a long time now. It doesn't make sense to make it xbox exlusive and alienate a big fan base .
Starfield was a new ip.
You do understand when when es6 codes out ps6 Will be in like its second or third year....
I think there are two reasonable paths forward that could get Xbox many of the benefits of exclusivity, while also not leaving out PlayStation owners.
First is to work out a deal with Sony to get game pass on PlayStation. Maybe they come up with a stripped down version of Game Pass that only includes Microsoft's first party titles, so they're not directly competing with Sony's subscription service. This is the best option, I think, and I'm sure that they both would like to make it happen, they just have to figure out how to make the numbers work.
Option two is to release a handful of these huge games on PlayStation a year or two after they launch on Xbox. I wouldn't think you would take Halo to PlayStation. But maybe things like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, and other AAA franchises that have traditionally been multi-platform can remain multi-platform, but you'll have to wait a while if you don't get in the Xbox ecosystem.
I think either of these options would be viewed as reasonably consumer friendly on the part of Microsoft, allow Microsoft to make lots of money out of their huge investments, and still provide incentive for people to buy into the Xbox ecosystem. They also leave some meat on the bone for Sony to make money.
I would think that one of these two things, or possibly both of them will happen. An Elder Scrolls release might be the thing that makes it happen. There's plenty of time left to work it out before the game launches, and both sides are heavily incentivized to figure it out. Microsoft has essentially said that they don't care about selling hardware, which makes sense since they've always been a software business. And really, who wants to be in the money losing console business if you can stay out of it and still make all the software money? It's just a matter of when they will figure out how to make this work. Will it be a year from now, or a decade?
The danger for Sony to allow GP on their consoles if for that service to take over their own in popularity over their own PS+ service. That’s something they can’t allow no matter what, as this is one of their platform’s main revenue pillars.
Phil has said they’re not in it to out-console Sony or Nintendo. Their strategy is changing to get market share and user engagement with their product. So there could be a way for them to make it happen on a PS console but, as you said, that would be a special version of GP that’d most likely be included in a more costly PS+ sub tier. But the chances of this ever happening are slim to none IMHO.
I’d like for it to happen though. Those two giants truly working together would be massive. But that will never happen while Jim “Anti-Consumer” Ryan is at the helm of PS.
This sounds reasonable I hope something like this can be done, however i think it depends very much on the success of Xbox and whether it needs to do this. If gamepass sees massive growth over the next year ot two would they still want to offer gamers a reason not to fully buy into xbox?
Enough with the PR spit Phil. Just blurt it out! If Starfield can do these kinds of insane numbers when it's just Xbox/PC, an ESVI would blow them literally into the Starfield lol. Especially if it turns into a launch title for the next-gen Xbox.
And I thought he already said ESVI would be treated the same way as Starfield?
Stop this nonsense just say it’s gonna be on PC/Xbox/Cloud
These continued exclusivity questions are incredibly irritating and I wish games journalists would let it go. We have no idea what’s going to happen in 7-10 years
It won't come to PS
Leaked emails in the last day of the FTC trial show Spencer said in a meeting in November 21' that all future Bethesda games were to be Xbox exclusive.
"Not just new IP, but all games going forward"
https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-ftc-trial-phil-spencer-zenimax-exclusive
I believe Phil on this - I personally feel ES6 will be on PS5. I don't believe this is just business as usual when it comes to Xbox studios game exclusivity.
Might be a minor loss, but this is a loss none the less. I used to double buy Bethesda RPG games once on the console and once on PC (usually a year or two later for the PC when the game goes on sale). I won't be buying the XBOX version of these games.
There is always the possibility these games will come to Playstation down the road. After a year or two, the benefit of exclusivity means less at that point and they can generate money from Playstation users.
Probably be based on the success of starfield
Will be interesting to see what they do here. Elder Scrolls is huge on both consoles. While making it xbox exclusive may make a few xbox sales and will make them more money by making sure everyone who owns both consoles buys it on xbox, but they'd leave an awful lot of money on the table by not picking up the many millions of sales from PS5 owners who don't have xbox.
I would think with these long standing multiplat hugely popular series it would make more sense to keep them multiplat, while having new IP, like Starfield, be xbox exclusive.
It will be console exclusive to XBox. MS has no reason to cater to the PS audience with their studios. It sucks that they are purchasing big publishers that historically deliver their content on multi-platform, but people need to get over it.
If you want these games, just buy the console on which they come out, or subscribe to GP.
Hopefully, TESVI will push the boundaries further than Starfield, and improve on the formula they’ve been sitting on as a “comfort zone” for over a decade now, and really create a next-gen sandbox experience like no other.
Didn't they already said that before,
That case by case bullshiz why do u need to repost this? LoL
We already know it's Xbox console exclusive and day one PC release nothing special
The fact that people still ask questions about this is the ridiculous part :)
We're talking 6-10 years from now, we have no idea what is coming in that time. Hell Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft might be buddy buddy at that point and have some sort of barebones gamepass on the Playstation 6 and Switch 3.
This is the best answer for everyone, and I'm sure there's a way to make it work for all parties involved. I am confident that it will happen eventually. It's just a matter of when.
Has nobody figured out how to make Xbox cloud gaming work on a PS5 yet? I feel like somebody needs to make that happen. If Sony and Microsoft can't agree to do it through the front door, it'll have to go through a side door. But I feel like That will take care of a good chunk of this problem.
Lol when es6 finally comes out ps6 Will be in its second or third year..
Have some balls and say its not gona be on ps or nintendo consoles (nintendo rumours say next console is powerfull?!?) like it was leaked in the court case. Skyrim sold 60 million more than 15 million for sure sold on ps consoles, that is how much they willing to lose to try to surpass one day sony.
