Worries over Starfield skipping Xbox helped push Microsoft to buy Bethesda

Enlarge / The only way we can ensure Sony doesn't capture that planet is if we buy it ourselves! (credit: Bethesda)

Thus far, much of the legal and regulatory drama surrounding Microsoft's proposed purchase of Activision has centered on concerns about the potential for Microsoft to make major cross-platform franchise Call of Duty into an Xbox console exclusive. But Microsoft Xbox Chief Phil Spencer now says separate concerns surrounding Starfield's potential PlayStation exclusivity helped drive Microsoft's 2020 purchase of Bethesda Softworks parent ZeniMax.

In Friday testimony concerning the FTC's attempt to block the Activision purchase, Spencer noted how, in 2020, Sony made paid deals ensuring Bethesda titles Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo would ship on PlayStation months before an Xbox version was available. “So the discussion about Starfield—when we heard that Starfield was potentially also going to end up skipping Xbox, we can’t be in a position as a third-place console where we fall further behind on our content ownership, so we’ve had to secure content to remain viable in the business," Spencer said on the stand.

Those concerns weren't entirely based on Sony's previous practice, either. Just after the Bethesda purchase was announced, former Kinda Funny Host Imran Khan reported that "Sony had been negotiating timed exclusivity on Starfield as recently as a few months ago."

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