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[The_Mike]

Anyone really still believe TES6 and Starfield won't be timed exclusives? Anyone? Really?

 

[Evangelion Unit-01]

My assumption is games like Prey, Doom, Wolfenstein will be fully exclusive. Games like Fallout and TES will be exclusive for 1 year minimum if not full exclusive. Frankly they don't need to make these games multi-plat at all in order to be successful and drive Game Pass.

Games like FO76 and TES Online will continue to be multiplat.

 

[Blue Spring]

It seems my controversial posts that gather a lot of laugh reactions all end up true in the end.
(Ps5>XsX on multiplats)
(Now this)

I hope I win the lottery please laugh react this.

Honestly, one reason I dont believe many Bethesda games will skip Playstation is because xbox fans are so adamant, so very sure that they will be but xbox fans are are also almost always wrong. Always bet against xbox fans.

 

[Thirty7ven]

If a game was already in development its not going to suddenly become exclusive now.
Timed sure, but not full on "console" exclusive.

But things that are starting after the acquisition (I have no idea how long Beth studios dev cycles are) are likely actually going to be "not on Playstation" exclusive.

Yeah I think so too.

I don't see the problem with it either, anybody who feels bad that they will miss out on a couple of games, just wait and by the time it's worth it you can buy a cheap PC or a cheap Xbox and play them all with like 6 months of gamepass. It's not going to be some huge investment.

It would be stupid for MS to not make them exclusive and force people to spend money outside of the PlayStation ecosystem. That's how it's gotta be until they are on a frequent release schedule and can feed gamepass at a consistent pace with first party output, and when that happens they can put gamepass everywhere. Including Playstation.

 

[Monkeygourmet]

It’s actually perfect.

xBox users get to beta test Bethesda’s bug ridden jank for a year then the PS5 gets the proper release with better loading times / texture streaming.

win / win for PS5 users

 

[Andodalf]

If a game was already in development its not going to suddenly become exclusive now.
Timed sure, but not full on "console" exclusive.

But things that are starting after the acquisition (I have no idea how long Beth studios dev cycles are) are likely actually going to be "not on Playstation" exclusive.

It depends on the state of dev, but even games close to completion can be scrapped. Gears 3? Has a mostly functional PS3 Port, for instance.

 

[93xfan]

They need to leverage it and make Sony give up some exclusives, imo. That would be best for everyone.

 

[Neko Mimi Mode]

He can't possibly talk about ESO or F76 because those are already out. How can you get it "first" on Xbox?

This whole interview seems incredibly stupid when you just launched a console with barely any exclusives to play on.

Like I said, future content for titles like ESO and F76, will continue to go to all platforms. Those games already being out doesn't mean they don't regularly and routinely receive content updates.

An expansion or DLC could come first to Xbox, for example.

Your interpretation, and panic, is out of all proportion. We've heard many times from Phil, Beth and industry insiders that these games will be exclusive - you have to frame these comments around that context.

 

[Blue Spring]

Money keeps being brought up as the major reason that MS needs Sony's support. Which of these two companies is bigger? When has MS ever needed the PlayStation brand to sell games:? As teezzy said if MS wanted a timed exclusive I'm POSITIVE MS could have gotten that for WAY less than 7.5B dollars. Sony got DeathLoop and Ghostwire Tokyo for less. MS isn't trying to build Sony's game library that makes no sense.

They could get timed exclusivity easily and way cheaper but those games would not show up on gamepass.
Thats the reason they got Bethesda. Well that and that Bethesda was supposedly not doing great financially.

 

[Stuart360]

This makes no sense. If Sony had the ability to negotiate timed exclusivity for Starfield, what stops Microsoft from telling their own employees to dump the PS5 build? Don't tell me it's cost because Epic literally flushed a fully working Gears 3 build back then.

We have known about Starfield for 3 or 4 years now, and it was oficially announced 2 years ago. Sony could of made some kind of deal long before Microsoft even started negotiating about a sale. Besides it doesnt need to be an exclusivity deal. Even a deal, a CONCLUDED deal, for something like extra skins, or pre order bonuses, anyhting like that, any deal already concluded would stop by law Microsoft buying Bethesda and then trying to force Starfield exclusive to Xbox and PC.

 

[eNT1TY]

Why so Sony could make more on gamepass than Microsoft? Gamespass will only be on platforms with zero cut because that is the only way it works. You think gamepass is ever going to be remotely profitable giving Sony 30% off the top lol.

You already answered your own question. If it's generating profit solely on it's own platforms with zero cut they aren't losing anything with an additional revenue stream from a platform with a 30%(a negotiable figure no less) cut. They aren't losing 30% of anything rather they are gaining 70% of an additional revenue stream. I'd pay 7 billion for that. Sony making more on gamepass is MS making more on gamepass.

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

They could get timed exclusivity easily and way cheaper but those games would not show up on gamepass.

Getting those games on Gamepass day 1 would have been still cheaper.

 

[Romulus]

I think they will give Xbox players more/better options. Maybe they'll have additional performance tweaks through the menu, along with better settings. Not to mention exclusive DLC and timed exclusivity.

Overall the heavy hitter AAA might exist on Playstation but that's probably it. Seems like xbox will be pushing Bethesda hard to make it clearly superior on their platform. Can't blame them.

 

[Blue Spring]

Getting those games on Gamepass day 1 would have been still cheaper.

Short term yes, long term no. Gamepass needs its fodder.
Edit: How many AAA third party games show up day 1 on gamepass?

 

[LisaMariaMartin]

We have known about Starfield for 3 or 4 years now, and it was oficially announced 2 years ago. Sony could of made some kind of deal long before Microsoft even started negotiating about a sale. Besides it doesnt need to be an exclusivity deal. Even a deal, a CONCLUDED deal, for something like extra skins, or pre order bonuses, anyhting like that, any deal already concluded would stop by law Microsoft buying Bethesda and then trying to force Starfield exclusive to Xbox and PC.

They can do whatever the fuck they want once they own them, the worst that can happen is a fine. Companies on that level have been breaking the law and paying off fines since time immemorial.

 

[IntentionalPun]

A whole lot of people in this thread can't seem to think past Bethesda the game dev... and don't seem to be thinking in terms of Bethesda as the publisher (and Zenimax for that matter.)

Doom, Wolfenstein, Rage, Dishonored, The Evil Within.. and anything else the other Bethesda/Zenimax studios applies to these comments as well.

Bethesda the RPG developer on the other hand.. is far more likely to be focused on only Xbox/PC.. for one thing, they are mainly a PC dev in the first place.. and have always favored Xbox due to it's closeness to the DirectX SDKs... moving forward with the GDK it's almost a no brainer for Bethesda RPGs to be exclusive and it might actually help Bethesda develop those games on time.

 

[teezzy]

If the mass public caught wind of a "new Skyrim" and it weren't available anywhere else apart from Xbox and PC then you wouldnt be able to find a Series X in stores for at least a year because they'd be selling so well

I see the other argument, and it all boils down to what profits them most long term. If they wanna win the generation and potentially the next after, MS needs to fight dirtier

 

[Maxwell Jacob Friedman]

Timed Exclusives it is then

 

[Maxwell Jacob Friedman]

They need to leverage it and make Sony give up some exclusives, imo. That would be best for everyone.

I dont see sony giving anything to xbox, maybe some on pc sure. But I dont see any of their catalogue going to the xbox.

 

[KRYPT83]

Anything to back this up other than feelings? "first or better or best" does not indicate "full exclusive forever". Nor has anything they've said on the matter up to this point honestly.

Completely ignoring an install base as big as Playstation would be crazy, but X amount of timed exclusivity will be enough to push diehards over to the other platform. No chance some of those people are waiting for TES6, they'll just flip.

They can't come out and say these game's are going to be exclusive until the deal closes in March, You don't spend 7.5 billion to put game's on a console who's toxic fan's called you out a whole gen for not have exclusives and you sure in the hell don't spend 7.5bill for timed exclusives! If xbox wanted the games to hit gamepass with a timed window they would of cut a smaller check use some commonsense

 

[IntentionalPun]

I dont see sony giving anything to xbox, maybe some on pc sure. But I dont see any of their catalogue going to the xbox.

I would assume he's talking about money-hatted 3rd person titles.

Use some Zenimax games as leverage to get Sony to stop doing those moneyhats... sounds like something that is incredibly unlikely lol

 

[Airbus Jr]

Lock the ps5 to 30fps and watch the internet cry

Why would they need to do that?

Thats a nasty thing to say

 

[Neko Mimi Mode]

They can't come out and say these game's are going to be exclusive until the deal closes in March, You don't spend 7.5 billion to put game's on a console who's toxic fan's called you out a whole gen for not have exclusives and you sure in the hell don't spend 7.5bill for timed exclusives! If xbox wanted the games to hit gamepass with a timed window they would of cut a smaller check use some commonsense

As has been pointed out, the games will come to Xbox eventually anyway. A deal for Game Pass day one could have been made for significantly less than 7.5billion, as Xbox have made already before. The only reason to buy Zenimax is to make it's IPs exclusive.

The statements in the OP are as non committal and confused as the many messages on this topic until now precisely because Microsoft don't own Zenimax yet.

 

[Iced Arcade]

So same ol' same ol'

Games already on and deals in place will continue to sell on other platforms and we cant tell you future titles will be exclusive yet till the deal is done.

This is literally zero new news but will gain pages and pages lol

 

[oagboghi2]

lol @ yet another vague statement which leaves it entirely open for multiplat and yet console warriors demanding exlusives

tell me, why would you buy the company who sold Skyrim on every system possible, then decide to limit your sales of Skyrim 2 to only one? in what universe does that make sense?

it would be stupid. why would you choose to sell less copies of a game? you know, they have to make back $7.5 billion to get even on this deal? they are going to whore out Skyrim 2 just like the first.

this is what people are arguing when they say exclusivity. it's hilarious. you honestly think Microsoft is going to leave free money on the table?

Also it runs counter to everything fanboys have been saying.

all they have been repeating for months is “console exclusives don’t matter. It’s all about software. Software on every machine.”

every machine except, magically, the switch and PS5.

 

[AV]

They can't come out and say these game's are going to be exclusive until the deal closes in March, You don't spend 7.5 billion to put game's on a console who's toxic fan's called you out a whole gen for not have exclusives and you sure in the hell don't spend 7.5bill for timed exclusives! If xbox wanted the games to hit gamepass with a timed window they would of cut a smaller check use some commonsense

I know they can't say for certain, but they can suggest, just like this interview suggests timed exclusivity, or just a "better" experience on Xbox.

They can still have full exclusives. Dishonored 3 can be Xbox/PC only and it won't really make a dent. But TES6? Fallout 5? Those specifically are too big, in my eyes, not to just throw onto Playstation a year or whatever down the line after you reel in the diehards. Not everyone is going to make the change when forced, they'll just not bother if they're asked to buy an entirely new system or play on their phone.

Time will tell. Whatever happens, some people in this thread will have a loooot of crow to eat. Could be me. Could be you.

 

[Airbus Jr]

Xbox CFO Talks Bethesda Exclusivity; “We Want Bethesda Content to be First or Better or Best on Xbox Platforms”

So eventually everyone gets to enjoy their game

My man Phil Spencer is awesome

 

[Clarissa]

Free horse armour on the Xbox Series X for Elder Scrolls 6!

 

[Hendrick's]

lol @ yet another vague statement which leaves it entirely open for multiplat and yet console warriors demanding exlusives

tell me, why would you buy the company who sold Skyrim on every system possible, then decide to limit your sales of Skyrim 2 to only one? in what universe does that make sense?

it would be stupid. why would you choose to sell less copies of a game? you know, they have to make back $7.5 billion to get even on this deal? they are going to whore out Skyrim 2 just like the first.

this is what people are arguing when they say exclusivity. it's hilarious. you honestly think Microsoft is going to leave free money on the table?

It's all about Game Pass, that they have been very clear on. So don't expect these on a PS console unless it is beneficial to that end. It's not about selling games.

 

[wipeout364]

I believe he is saying it will be exclusive to Xbox, PC and gamepass.

If Sony wants the titles on their platform then they will have to allow gamepass on the PlayStation network. It also implies that they will not pull content from PSN. Switch is not seen as a direct competitor so current practice will likely not be changed.

Microsoft will likely keep buying studios till Sony yields would me my guess, EA will be the next likely acquisition target after their crappy earnings report.l and stock drop.

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

Wut?!

Both the comments here and previous comments from MS have been pretty clear. Combine that with common sense which says that no-one spends $7.5b (over-valued) on a multi-platform company only to strip away most of that value by not shipping games on one of the world's most popular platforms, while at the same time putting the entire publisher's games up for "free" on a pre-existing GamePass service (yes doing so will increase GP revenues through subs growth, but not by $7.5b, nor even by the amount needed to cover the depreciation in Zenimax's normal multiplatform sales revenues).

It's ostensibly clear that on the balance of probabilities, Zenimax games will continue to be multiplatform. Otherwise, Zenimax would see mass layoffs on the publisher side and the production operations would be subsumed into MGS with some small element of Zenimax's studio management team retained (because lord knows MGS studio management would make a pigs ear of it).

So trying to equate the two possibilities of future Zenimax games launching on non-Xbox platforms or not as equally probable is woefully disingenuous or just a little ignorant.

Just because there's no concrete confirmation either way, it doesn't mean both possibilities are equally probable. They're not.... and in this case, not even close.

You may overvalue the presence of Bethesda titles on Playstation a little. The biggest platform for their games ain't Playstation. The core fanbase is on PC and Xbox. Not to mention Microsoft and Bethesda have a history together.
Look at the sales of Skyrim:
"Within two days of the game's launch, 3.4 million physical copies were sold. Of those sales, 59% were for the Xbox 360, 27% for the PS3, and 14% for the PC."

Out of 30 million sold copies, 9 million are Xbox 360 copies, 7 million are PS3 copies and 8 million on PC. You can bet that they will try to hype the new Elder Scrolls to oblivion (pun intended) to make those numbers again. This game will be huge for Gamepass. Also let's not underestimate the impact xcloud may have. It does open the game to an endless
amount of people.

Not saying it is impossible that we will see PS5 ports, but we have to remember that MS wants to build their brand, build Gamepass and wants to lead more people into their eco-system. You can do that with timed exclusives, but the impact isn't nearly as substantial as with full exclusives. And "exclusive" is relative for MS. They don't care if you play their latest games on Xbox, PC or via streaming. But I am pretty sure they care about their competition.

 

[Redlancet]

This is going to be another one of those things where everyone who supports Microsoft is adamant the games will never come to PlayStation... and then games inevitably come to PlayStation (probably timed exclusive) because this is the real world, and money talks.

the meltdowns gonna be of biblical proportions

 

[Airbus Jr]

MS needs to hold ALL their new IPs hostage and the only avenue for multi-platform support for a competitor is to also allow them to put gamepass on that system as well. That would certainly shake things up.

 

[Maxwell Jacob Friedman]

I would assume he's talking about money-hatted 3rd person titles.

Use some Zenimax games as leverage to get Sony to stop doing those moneyhats... sounds like something that is incredibly unlikely lol

nah sony gets most of their revenue from third party deals and third party licensing deals, lol that aint changing.

 

[splattered]

Tell you what, give us Spiderman and you can have the next Fallout 76 DLC

 

[Maxwell Jacob Friedman]

MS needs to hold ALL their new IPs hostage and the only avenue for multi-platform support for a competitor is to also allow them to put gamepass on that system as well. That would certainly shake things up.

no it wouldnt, sony doesnt care about gamepass when a good amount of their games are selling bangers

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Seems like a the games will still come to PS5 confirmation to me.

Wth MS

 

[Hendrick's]

I'm not making any announcements about exclusivity or something like that. But that model will change.

So if the current model is multiplatform and that is going to change, what could that be?

 

[NickFire]

MS be like: You want us to pass up 2/3 of the console install base? Hell no. You get first or an extra couple skins and be happy.

 

[bighugeguns]

PS5 gets COD xp boost XSX gets Starfield and TE6 it all balances out

Oh, TE6 will release on PS5.

After 3 years.

Also all PS5 TE6 mods will contain Microsoft bitcoin miners.

And the PS5 TE6 version will be entirely uncompressed and unoptimized, clocking in at a 680GB download, and capped at 20fps, it'll also cost $200 per copy.

The revenge for the COD exclusivity transgressions will be absolute.

 

[FritzJ92]

So here is what we know
- MS has come out and said the deal works without needing any other platform except what Xbox is on
- Xbox and Bethesda has a history of working together
- MS will honor existing deals (why mention this if they don't plan on changing stuff afterwards)
- MS isn't taking the games away from any player (vague, but anything on xCloud is technically available to everyone)
- They wont give an official statement until the deal finalizes next year and there is nothing stopping it from happening
- Of every studio MS owns, only 1 game is multiplatform and that's Minecraft (which they don't even label under the Xbox brand, but they lableded Zenimax + Bethesda under the Xbox umbrella)
Here is what people think
- Games will be multiplat still
- Games will be timed to xbox for 1 year
- Games will be xbox platform exclusive
Here is the solution
ya'll can't wait till an official statement in 1Q 2021?... they obviously don't want to answer anything until the deal is finalized, but IMO pretty sure MS is being vague because there are games coming out next year for PS5 from prior deals, but once they are done MS is going to announce all games from there on exclusive to Gamepass + Xbox platforms

 

[reinking]

I do not care. The only important things to me are they come Game Pass day one and not be littered with GAAS micro-transactions.

 

[Airbus Jr]

Oh, TE6 will release on PS5.

After 3 years.

The revenge for the COD exclusivity transgressions will be absolute.

3 year is too long imo

Somewhere along 6 months - 1 year is more apropriate

 

[devilNprada]

As has been pointed out, the games will come to Xbox eventually anyway. A deal for Game Pass day one could have been made for significantly less than 7.5billion, as Xbox have made already before. The only reason to buy Zenimax is to make it's IPs exclusive.

The reason to buy Zenimax is to have a seat at the table, when decisions regarding the direction of gaming are being made.

 

[The_Mike]

People who say Microsoft just can't pass on Playstation because of the major player base:

While releasing a few on pc, why should Sony ignore the biggest platform when it's free money? It's all about the money.

Or is it only if we talk about Microsoft?

Also, why should Microsoft not make it exclusive to pc and Xbox? If they go multi plat then there really wasn't a reason to buy the studio at all.

They will never recover the 7.5 billion, even as a multiatform, and if their games wasn't meant to be system sellers, then Microsoft should just go multiplatform anyway.

 

[PumpkinPie]

Slightly less bugs edition - only on Xbox.

 

[bighugeguns]

People who say Microsoft just can't pass on Playstation because of the major player base:

While releasing a few on pc, why should Sony ignore the biggest platform when it's free money? It's all about the money.

Or is it only if we talk about Microsoft?

Also, why should Microsoft not make it exclusive to pc and Xbox? If they go multi plat then there really wasn't a reason to buy the studio at all.

They will never recover the 7.5 billion, even as a multiatform, and if their games wasn't meant to be system sellers, then Microsoft should just go multiplatform anyway.

They have to recoup the cost of purchase of Bethesda, it was a massive acquisition and I would be surprised as hell if they device to keep anything exclusive.

Exclusivity would just harm revenue, they had to look at the current Bethesda books and factored in how long it would take to recoup the purchase, there's no way they'd be cutting off platforms, hell, you'd want to EXPAND platforms, if anything!

Skyrim on fridges!

 

[LisaMariaMartin]

I believe he is saying it will be exclusive to Xbox, PC and gamepass.

If Sony wants the titles on their platform then they will have to allow gamepass on the PlayStation network. It also implies that they will not pull content from PSN. Switch is not seen as a direct competitor so current practice will likely not be changed.

Microsoft will likely keep buying studios till Sony yields would me my guess, EA will be the next likely acquisition target after their crappy earnings report.l and stock drop.

Thats not what he said at all. Journalists are already running with this so unless MS comes out and denies, I'll believe they will release on PS5. Xbox will probably get Master Chief skins or something.

 

[bighugeguns]

Doom Eternal is already on Gamepass, the signs of the Bethesda purchase are already showing.

Basically what will happen, you'll have to spend $$$ for a PS5 version, but it'll likely be free on Gamepass.

Guys, Gamepass is a serious monstrosity for any competition.

 

[Hendrick's]

They have to recoup the cost of purchase of Bethesda

Do they? In what time frame?

Exclusivity would just harm revenue

Not if it drives Game Pass subs.