Xbox chief Phil Spencer basically confirmed that The Elder Scrolls VI will be an Xbox exclusive in an interview with GQ.
The news comes up in a section about Bethesda, which officially joined Microsoft in March. Starfield, Bethesda’s upcoming sci-fi game, has already been confirmed to be an Xbox and PC exclusive, and “Spencer says he sees the same for The Elder Scrolls VI,” according to GQ.
A quote in the article from Spencer elaborates a bit more. “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.”
That all leaves open the possibility that The Elder Scrolls VI might not be an Xbox exclusive, and we’ve asked Microsoft if it can confirm that it is. But Spencer has been pretty direct about how Microsoft would bring exclusive games to Xbox as part of the Bethesda deal.
In a roundtable event hosted shortly after the acquisition was completed, Spencer said that “if you’re an Xbox customer, the thing I want you to know is that this is about delivering great exclusive games for you that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists,” Spencer said. “That’s our goal, that’s why we’re doing this, that’s the root of this partnership that we’re building.”
Xbox chief Phil Spencer on exclusive Bethesda games: “This is about delivering great exclusive games for you [Xbox customers] that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists.” pic.twitter.com/K1U84pukdu
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) March 11, 2021
Spencer also mentioned exclusives in a blog post announcing the deal was done. “With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams, gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players,” he said.
Taking Spencer’s statements collectively, it seems extremely likely that The Elder Scrolls VI will only launch on Xbox and PC. Unfortunately, we don’t know when the highly anticipated game will be released, which was revealed in a brief tease in 2018.
