According to Xbox's chief financial officer Tim Stuart, the goal for Bethesda's games isn't to make them unavailable for Sony or Nintendo, but simply to have dibs on it.
Speaking at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment conference, as transcribed by SeekingAlpha, Stuart spoke of the future of franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, to name but a few, once the purchase of ZeniMax and Bethesda is completed in 2021.
"When we think about Bethesda, it's going to be the continuing to allow -- I'll say allow, but continue to sell their games on the platforms that they exist today, and we'll determine what that looks over time and will change over time. I'm not making any announcements about exclusivity or something like that. But that model will change", he said.
Thankfully for Sony and Nintendo fans, though, Microsoft aren't planning to remove them via full exclusivity. Their approach seems to be aimed at ensuring they've got the first pick of goods, rather than inconveniencing their competitors.
"What we'll do in the long run is we don't have intentions of just pulling all of Bethesda content out of Sony or Nintendo or otherwise. But what we want is we want that content, in the long run, to be either first or better or best or pick your differentiated experience, on our platforms. We will want Bethesda content to show up the best as -- on our platforms", he added.
Bethesda
Stuart stressed that Bethesda gave team Xbox a handful of IPs to brag about, and the company treasures the potential additions to Game Pass. Microsoft's reinforcements in the subscription department have proven to be as important as the company's next-gen hardware, and Bethesda is likely to feature there sooner rather than later.
Thanks, SeekingAlpha .
Bethesda's Fallout 76 releasing on 14 November 2018
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