Phil Spencer says he’s not ‘punishing any other platform’ by making the sequel to Skyrim an Xbox exclusive like Starfield.
Shortly after Microsoft bought Bethesda, for a still mindboggling $7.5 billion, Skyrim director Todd Howard said it was ‘hard to imagine’ its sequel, currently known only as The Elder Scrolls 6, being an Xbox exclusive.
That leap of imagination was easier for others though, including Microsoft who made it plain that the reason they’d bought Bethesda, and others, was to ensure the Xbox ecosystem had a steady supply of first party exclusives.
In a new interview with GQ, Xbox boss Phil Spencer apparently confirms that The Elder Scrolls 6 will indeed be an Xbox and PC exclusive, just like next year’s Starfield, and will therefore not appear on PlayStation 5.
Frustratingly, his exact quote isn’t recorded. It’s just stated that ‘Spencer says he sees the same for The Elder Scrolls 6’, when referring to Starfield exclusivity.
He’s then quoted as saying: ‘It’s not about punishing any other platform, like I fundamentally believe all of the platforms can continue to grow’.
‘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 6. That would be true when I think about any of our franchises.’
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At this point, there will have been few fans expecting anything else but it’s an academic point anyway, as Bethesda has made it quite clear that the game is nowhere near finished – admitting in June that it is still in the design phase.
Production should ramp up once Starfield launches next November but even so, you’re looking at 2024 or 2025 before there’s any real chance of Skyrim’s successor being released.
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