Support NeoGAF

[Bullet Club]

The Elder Scrolls 6 All But Confirmed to Be an Xbox Exclusive​

Phil Spencer doesn't see TES6 leaving his platforms.

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has all but confirmed that The Elder Scrolls VI will be an Xbox console exclusive.

In an interview with British GQ, Spencer said that he sees the sequel to Skyrim as a similar case to fellow Bethesda title Starfield, which was confirmed for Xbox Series X/S and PC earlier this year.

At least in part, his reasoning seems to come down to what the Xbox ecosystem can offer its exclusives, including Cloud Gaming, Xbox Live services, and more:

“It’s not about punishing any other platform, like I fundamentally believe all of the platforms can continue to grow,” Spencer told GQ. “But in order to be on Xbox, I want us to be able to bring the full complete package of what we have. And that would be true when I think about Elder Scrolls VI. That would be true when I think about any of our franchises.”

Ever since Xbox bought Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media, The Elder Scrolls 6's position as a possible exclusive has been a topic of debate. As arguably Bethesda's biggest franchise, there's been much made of whether Xbox would help or hinder itself by allowing the next Elder Scrolls game to be released on competing platforms.

Microsoft has previously said that Bethesda games would be released "first or better or best" on Xbox, but Bethesda's Todd Howard said that it was "hard to imagine" The Elder Scrolls 6 as an Xbox exclusive. Now, it seems as though the pendulum has swung the other way, with Spencer sounding far more bullish about the eagerly anticipated RPG staying on Microsoft-controlled platforms.

Elsewhere in the piece, Todd Howard reiterated that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still being designed, but added that the ultimate goal for the game remained similar to previous installments in the series:

"You go back and you read a review of the first Elder Scrolls. And then you read The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's, then you read The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's. You black out a couple things. And they read the same. 'You've stepped out and oh my gosh, it feels so real.' People change. Technology changes. But the ultimate goal is still to make it so that, when you boot the game up, you feel like you've been transported.”

It will still be at least several years before we play the game, especially as Howard told us that making Starfield was now-or-never, but we can expect the game to follow some familiar lines, with Bethesda Game Studios remaining committed to making single-player experiences.

Source: IGN

 

[Skifi28]

So no ouya port? Damn.

 

[Cockles & Whelks]

It will come to PS5/6 As a definitive version with all the mods 10 years down line same way as Skyrim. Easy money for MS

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Calverz]

 

[KyoZz]

Phil Spencer: Bethesda games will only be coming to platforms that support Game Pass.

The internet: TES VI IS COMING TO PS5 !!

 

[VAVA Mk2]

 

[Bartski]

shocker

 

[SJRB]

Didn't we do this exact dance on the exact same music like 6 months ago?

 

[Bernkastel]

 

[SlimySnake]

We all just lost.

 

[Fuz]

Timed exclusive.

 

[mansoor1980]

why does he need to confirm this again and again ?

 

[Godot25]

I don't understand why he had to say it again. But I guess PlayStation fans are still in denial...

 

[AmuroChan]

Cool. So it's a console exclusive. I'm getting it on Steam.

 

[Kagey K]

 

[FunkMiller]

It’s not exclusive to Xbox. It’s on PC.

And why does he feel the need to clarify this again. We all know it’s not coming to Playstation. Does anybody think otherwise now?

 

[Nikana]

 

[elcapitano]

It's on PC so its not an Xbox exclusive

 

[MonarchJT]

why does he need to confirm this again and again ?

to slowly set expectation to a ex community of gamers that love TES and could change platform when they get that will not play the game if not on the Xbox platform (Xbox console + windows PC + Xcloud)

 

[Riky]

I guess one of the richest companies in the world could afford to leave money on the table after all.

 

[MonarchJT]

It's on PC so its not an Xbox exclusive

windows PC ..that is, the main Microsoft platform

 

[dotnotbot]

How many threads we already had about this topic? Doesn't bother me, it's just amusing that every few weeks we need to get a reminder that one of the games that is still years from release most likely won't release on a certain platform.
Another amusing thing is that no one at Bethesda/MS has balls to say it clear, it's always an obfuscated PR mumbling.

 

[The_Mike]

why does he need to confirm this again and again ?

Sometimes you gotta refill the salt shaker.

 

[anthony2690]

Here we go again, all the denial and bargaining posts, for the next few years.

Even if they nip it in the bud like with starfield, people will still think there is a chance.

 

[AV]

I don't know why people are so confident one way or the other, honestly. There's a very good reason they haven't just come out and said it's going to be exclusive like they did with Starfield and that's because TES is a massive existing franchise with an enormous userbase on Playstation already.

They're going to keep weighing up which option will make them the most money in the long-term before they give a definitive statement one way or the other. There's no point in making that statement yet because TES6 is years away and they don't know yet. If they knew already they'd just say it.

 

[Bernkastel]

And why does he feel the need to clarify this again.

why does he need to confirm this again and again ?

Because GQ magazine asked him

How Xbox outgrew the console: inside Phil Spencer’s multi-billion dollar gamble

Phil Spencer saved Xbox. Now he wants to reinvent gaming. Ahead of Xbox’s 20th anniversary, we sat down with him and Microsoft’s gaming A-Team to discuss their wildly ambitious future including Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Halo Infinite, The Elder Scrolls VI exclusivity and more

www.gq-magazine.co.uk

Except for the Xbox-Bethesda roundtable they only talk about it when asked in an interview.

 

[oldergamer]

Well this is a big DUH moment. How can they title something like this a "report" ? I assume the next reports from them "Report: water is wet" and "Report: Men & women enjoy sex"

 

[RoboFu]

It's on PC so its not an Xbox exclusive

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

 

[Zok310]

This shit keeps coming up, like who out here still cares about this topic or is the media just milking this discussion?

 

[Shadax the wizard]

Mild shock

 

[Lucifers Beard]

This isn’t news. I thought it was pretty clear that outside of contractual obligations, Bethesda games were Xbox platform exclusive (PC and Xbox family). I think we can put this sort of shit to bed at this point now…

 

[MonarchJT]

I don't know why people are so confident one way or the other, honestly. There's a very good reason they haven't just come out and said it's going to be exclusive like they did with Starfield and that's because TES is a massive existing franchise with an enormous userbase on Playstation already.

They're going to keep weighing up which option will make them the most money in the long-term before they give a definitive statement one way or the other. There's no point in making that statement yet because TES6 is years away and they don't know yet. If they knew already they'd just say it.

it will be exclusive ..he just said that between the lines lol...if you want you can do like all the others who believed that starfield would go to PlayStation obviously being wrong. Bethesda is Ms first party they spent 7 b to have exclusives to their platform. period.

 

[Neofire]

windows PC ..that is, the main Microsoft platform

Bookmarking this comment for when people think that playstation exclusives going to PC doesn't benefit MS lol.

 

[Riky]

No point in coming out with a blanket statement about exclusivity when you can just drop each bombshell at E3 for maximum publicity.

 

[Hezekiah]

*Xbox and PC exclusive

 

[RoboFu]

Ps fanboys should just go with that it is exclusive.. if it is then no big deal everyone expected it. If for some reason it isn’t then you have a fanboy Christmas of lulz.
If you pout about it now and argue the it lessens the impact.

 

[GHG]

It's also exclusive to 2026 so what's the point of talking about this now?

 

[Vasto]

 

[KaiserBecks]

But it’s a legacy ip with money to be made on the market leading platform, I‘ll need a confirmation with exact wording before I‘m willing to believe otherwise! But I‘m not interested anyway!

 

[Hezekiah]

Ps fanboys should just go with that it is exclusive.. if it is then no big deal everyone expected it. If for some reason it isn’t then you have a fanboy Christmas of lulz.
If you pout about it now and argue the it lessens the impact.

Yeah I mean it's not going to be out for about five years so save up and get PC.

Also gets you the next Doom/Quake, and Wolfenstein games.

 

[MonarchJT]

*Xbox and PC exclusive

ppl always forget the most important part not just Pc..but *Ms windows PC*. PC are also Linux ...MacOS etc etc ..you need to be on a Microsott platform to play Ms games yep

 

[Hezekiah]

ppl always forget the most important part not just Pc..but *Ms windows PC*. PC are also Linux ...MacOS etc etc ..you need to be on a Microsott platform to play Ms games yep

People forget they have Windows installed on their PC...yep if they're a total dumbass.

The rest of us will be playing on Steam .

 

[dotnotbot]

I don't understand why people still think ES6 MAY be multiplatform? MS paid billions to acquire Bethesda and get the rights to ES. Does Sony put Horizon Zero Dawn series on Xbox? NO! Do they put Spider-Man on Xbox? NO! Do they put God of War on Xbox? NO!

Sony Ponies keep saying it's anti-consumer and not right......or that the series has always been multiplatform (it hasn't)......but when you mention those Sony exclusives then that is ok to be exclusive apparently.

It's simple, TES is much much bigger than any of the franchises you mentioned. It always sells the most copies on Playstation.

 

[AV]

it will be exclusive ..he just said that between the lines lol...if you want you can do like all the others who believed that starfield would go to PlayStation obviously being wrong. Bethesda is Ms first party they spent 7 b to have exclusives to their platform. period.

Let's be clear, I don't think TES is coming to PS any more, for a while I thought it might be a timed Xbox exclusive but the way Game Pass and streaming is going, nah, more than likely not at all.

What I'm saying is that they're very intentionally not making a definitive statement yet for a reason, and that reason is because they need to confirm with the suits that it's a better money maker in the long term, which they can't do while TES6 doesn't have anything resembling a release window.

 

[MonarchJT]

People forget they have Windows installed on their PC...yep if they're a total dumbass.

The rest of us will be playing on Steam .

that is a freaking application that run on Ms platform of which Microsoft decides rules and priorities.....bravo.

 

[Kagey K]

It's simple, TES is much bigger than any of the franchises you mentioned. It always sold the most copies on Playstation.

How many copies of Morrowind sold on Playstation vs Xbox?

 

[Hezekiah]

that is a freaking application that run on Ms platform of which Microsoft decides rules and priorities.....bravo.

Put the bottle of wine down and go to sleep.

 

[Andodalf]

Do these people not know that Bethesda was bought by MS? Of course it’s exclusive

 

[AlteredForms]

As an Elder Scrolls supporter since Morrowind, unless this comes to PC as standard, I’m taking a huge Molag Bal dump outside Xbox’s offices and encourage others to do the same.