Starfield was almost a PS5 exclusive! That’s why Microsoft acquired Bethesda

The revelation continues from her legal battle Microsoft With the FTC, which wants to block the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Specifically, today, among other things, he was asked to answer various questions Phil SpencerHead of the gaming division of the American giant.

In this context we learned how One of the reasons that prompted Microsoft to buy Bethesda was the PlayStation! In particular, Spencer pointed out that Sony pays various companies to not release their games on Xbox, giving as an example Final Fantasy 16 which debuted this week. Then he also mentioned Bethesda’s Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop, which PlayStation paid to stay out of Xbox for a year.

The big reveal was that PlayStation was in negotiations to secure Starfield as an exclusive as well, But the move has blown the glass for Microsoft who didn’t want their platform to keep missing out on key content.

ZeniMax is a great example. When we acquired ZeniMax, one of the drivers of that was because Sony had done a deal on Deathloop and Ghostwire and basically paid Bethesda not to deliver those games to Xbox.

Spencer added that it was necessary to “secure ownership” of ZeniMax and Starfield to keep up with the pace of new games on Xbox.

“We cannot position ourselves as a third controller where we will lag further in terms of our content ownership.”

For the record, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in September 2020. The massive $7.5 billion deal was finalized in March 2021. Although the acquisition was completed before the release of Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, Microsoft honored the company’s earlier commitments, allowing it to be released as timed exclusives. for PS5. In the end, both games reached the American giant’s consoles and Xbox Game Pass a year after their release.

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