Looking at Starfield, Bethesda’s upcoming science fiction adventure, which was first revealed two years before Microsoft announced its intention to buy Bethesda and its parent company ZeniMax Media, some were hoping the game would make its way to PlayStation platforms.
That hope appears to have faded, if the words of GamesBeat journalist Jeff Group are correct. “Starfield is exclusive to Xbox and PC. Period,” he beep. “I confirm that.”
If you are lucky enough to have the PS5 and also Bethesda games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, that doesn’t look great. And while there is such a thing as timed exclusivity where games will appear in other formats at a later time (this actually includes the upcoming PS5 title published by Bethesda: Deathloop), the use of the word “period” after Grubb’s statement is not particularly encouraging to Starfield’s outlook.
On some level, this isn’t very surprising. After all, you don’t spend $ 7.5 billion on a company to share its products with your arch competitor. On the other hand, if years of business had already entered a release for PS4 and PS5 before Microsoft ran out of plans, then it seems that wasting millions of dollars in potential sales is somewhat wasted. Plus, Microsoft continues to support Minecraft on PlayStation, after it spent $ 2.5 billion on the game in 2014, so here’s kind of a precedent.
But it was clear for a while that uniqueness was the direction Microsoft had taken with Bethesda. Eight months ago, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that while the titles would be shown “on a case-by-case basis,” exclusivity would be part of the company’s plans. “We want the Xbox ecosystem to be the best place to play ever, and we believe game availability is an integral part of that.
After agreeing to the purchase in March, Spencer clarified the situation. “Xbox, PC and Game Pass will be the best place to try new Bethesda games, including some new games in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players,” he said.
Here’s a good reason to watch the Xbox Series X and try to find a promising addition to the Xbox Series X. While the flagship Xbox is an excellent gaming console apart from Starfield, it is the best platform for publishing old and new Xbox games.
Of course, depending on how well the Xbox Game Pass streaming works in the long run, PlayStation owners can temporarily subscribe and get their Starfield fix remotely to a phone or tablet. Instead, the Xbox Series S offers an attractive secondary console for those who have already spent a lot of money on the PS5 but can’t live without Bethesda’s vast adventures.
Starfield is still a covered game, but we might not wait long for it to come true. Earlier this week, the technical idea for the game leaked to Reddit before it was immediately removed, suggesting that a 2021 release date is not impossible. See this space.
