Now That Microsoft’s Buying Bethesda, Its Games Will Come to Platforms Other than Xbox and PC on “Case-By-Case” Basis

Microsoft’s acquisition of Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, raises questions as much as it does excitement from the Xbox community. Will promised timed exclusives, such as Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo, still be coming to PlayStation first? Will future Bethesda titles be exclusive to Microsoft? Lucky for us, Executive Vice President of gaming at Microsoft Phil Spencer cleared things up.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer confirmed Microsoft has agreed to let Bethesda honor their prior commitment to Sony, and both Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo will debut on PlayStation rather than Xbox. However, future games, like Starfield, will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass—Microsoft’s videogame subscription service. But will it be an exclusive? Spencer said this will be determined on a “case-by-case” basis.

“Our commitment with this move is that Xbox and PC, and people playing on xCloud and Game Pass will get Zenimax’s games,” Spencer said. “The collection of Bethesda studios will be coming to Xbox and Xbox Game Pass. In terms of other platforms, I think we’ll make a decision on a case-by-base basis.”

Microsoft expects to close the deal with Zenimax in the second half of their 2021 fiscal year, which ends June 30. You can watch the full interview at Bloomberg.