Microsoft has issued a statement to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its proposed acquisition of Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Call of Duty owner Activision Blizzard, in which the company outlines how three future Bethesda games, potentially
RPG game Starfield, vampire shooter Redfall, and Skyrim sequel The
Elder Scrolls 6, will be exclusive to PC and Xbox.
Earlier in December, the
FTC filed an antitrust suit against the Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal, claiming that it could potentially hurt consumers and competition in the videogame industry. This was followed by a civil suit from a
group of ten “videogamers”, also arguing that the deal would be harmful to the gaming market.
Microsoft has now issued a response to the FTC suit, in which it outlines its plans for future Bethesda games, having purchased the studio’s parent company, ZeniMax Media, in 2020.
“The complaint’s reference to Microsoft’s recent acquisition of ZeniMax—a set of gaming studios acquired in 2020—has no relevance to the current transaction,” Microsoft says, referring to the suit filed by the FTC. “Xbox anticipates that three future titles, all of which are designed to be played primarily alone or in small groups, will be exclusive to Xbox and PCs.”
The names of the titles are redacted from the publicly viewable version of Microsoft’s statement, but space RPG Starfield and vampire co-op shooter Redfall have already been confirmed as exclusive to the company’s platforms, with the Starfield release date hopefully on its way soon. However, the third “future title” could well be Skyrim’s successor, The Elder Scrolls 6. In November 2021, Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer gave an interview to GQ, and hinted at the possibility of The Elder Scrolls 6 being PC and Xbox exclusive.
www.pcgamesn.com
![[Sigma]](/data/avatars/m/701/701747.jpg?1726376545){kind=avatar}
