There is a reason this is being leaked through Xbox tweets.
If you think 7.5 Billion doesn't buy you a bunch of exclusives you better think again.
For comparison's sake the whole of Lucas Film and its IP were purchased for $4 billion.
The whole of Marvel and it's IP were bought for $4 billion.
MS bought Bethesda for $7.5 Billion. They are going to get some mileage from this...
For comparison's sake, Microsoft purchased Minecraft for $2.5b,
and they expected to recoup their investment within the next fiscal year. (Not sure if it did or not, but I'm sure it's paid for itself by now.)
And Microsoft continued to this day with putting Minecraft and its spinoffs on every competitor's platforms.
Market factors are complicated (unless there's a boatload of MTX, I don't see Indy generating Minecraft monies...,) but a $billion dollars somehow doesn't make demands like it used to. It's
probably an exclusive, but Microsoft is an expert in playing the long game.
MS didn't expect to recoup their investment within one fiscal year. They expected to make more money than they otherwise would have made had that $2,500,000,000 continued to sit in the bank.
Idk what the annual interest is on 2.5B sitting in the bank, but lets just say it's 100 million. So basically MS expected to make more than 100 million off of Minecraft in the first fiscal year. So it makes sense for them to keep it on all platforms. Minecraft is so much more than games, the merchandise is huge.
Dang me, you're right. I still have it in my head as "recouping" from first hearing it wrong back then, but I've been seen the math breakdown before (good explanation tho) and should have known it before writing it this way. Apologies and thanks.
With Minecraft the messaging was pretty clear that it will remain multiplat,
With Bethesda the messaging was homely'ishly clear that they'll do whatever is best for the company and brands and ecosystems involved.
I do think a single-player (assuming) brand title will serve them best as an exclusive product (ala PS Spider-Man.)
I would not, however, be surprised by any move that MS makes with the Bethesda library, and so far it's been in their favor to wait and see what options are best for each product line. They know, at the very least, every one of these games will be out to Xbox consumers, beyond that is a numbers game where they're holding all the cards and can make whatever choice makes them happiest.