BETHESDA & XBOX: AN EXCLUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

     When Phil Spencer announced the acquisition of Zenimax, Parent Company of Bethesda, it sent nuclear shockwaves throughout the entertainment industry. Casually dropping $7.5 BILLION IN CASH on the Zenimax purchase was a huge flex by Microsoft, and showed that Phil and the Xbox team going forward, have the complete support of Satya Nadella and other key figures at HQ. In case there was any doubt about the momentum swing towards Xbox heading into Next Gen, this cemented it. Acquiring Bethesda was a brilliant move to solidify and embolden the Xbox platform, and announcing the deal on the day before pre-orders of the Next Gen Xbox consoles was tactical genius. On September 22^nd, Xbox shattered their records for pre-orders, showing once again, that hype for Xbox heading into Series S/X is at an all-time high.

     Immediately after the acquisition was announced, the attention of many shifted to the fate of Bethesda’s Ips, and whether they would remain multiplat, or become exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. In the past there have been a few multiplat games from the Xbox library (Minecraft & Minecraft Dungeons, Ori, and Cuphead), but for the most part, Phil has been adamant that Xbox titles will stay with the Xbox ecosystem. Aside from the previously mentioned, Wasteland 3, Outer Worlds, and Psychonauts 2 were also allowed as multiplat, (because of previous deals in place prior to their studios’ acquisitions), but going forward, new entries in these series will almost assuredly be Xbox exclusive. Tying back to Bethesda, Ghost-Wire Tokyo and Deathloop are two titles from their lineup that were already negotiated to appear on the PlayStation platforms as timed exclusives, before coming to Xbox eventually. Per Phil Spencer, these timed deals will be honored, meaning that for a brief time, these two games will only be on PlayStation, but will absolutely come to Xbox eventually, with potential sequels likely being Xbox exclusive going forward. As for the rest of Bethesda’s catalogue, they are almost definitely going to be exclusive for the Xbox ecosystem in the future. That means if you want to play Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Starfield, Doom, Wolfenstein, Dishonored, Prey, Quake, Evil Within, and other Bethesda franchises, looking ahead, better invest in an Xbox. A company doesn’t make this humongous investment, only to water it down by distributing it to their competition. This was made to add rocket fuel to Gamepass, not share toys with PlayStation. This may sound cold, but it’s the truth. If Sony had bought Zenimax, I almost guarantee you they wouldn’t entertain the possibility of making these games playable on Xbox. You can argue all day long whether exclusives are healthy or “good” for the industry and consumers, but, at the end of the day, content is king. If you want players committed for the long haul, invest in making killer content or experiences only found in your ecosystem. Xbox did just that with the Zenimax purchase.

     Thinking ahead, there is perceivably a way that a small number of these titles may remain multiplat, as Phil left wiggle room with his “case by case basis” statement. If there were, to be a few staying multiplat, I’d wager it’d be Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Elder Scrolls Online being the only ones, (If they even allow games to hit other platforms, which I believe they won’t.) These three have the largest audiences and ascend to pop culture relevance as Minecraft did, but, unlike Minecraft, these aren’t family friendly, educational, world crafting, and totally revolutionary experiences that necessitate sharing among the platforms. So again, I don’t personally think any Bethesda titles will be multiplat, but, if some were, I believe it would be from these three.