Day two of the case between Microsoft and the FTC took place in San Francisco on Friday where the FTC is trying to stop the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard from moving forward. During Friday’s hearings, nothing was bigger than the revelation of why Microsoft purchased Bethesda parent company ZeniMax. Xbox head Phil Spencer stated that Microsoft ultimately purchased Bethesda to stop Starfield from being a PlayStation exclusive.
“When we acquired ZeniMax one of the impetus for that is that Sony had done a deal for Deathloop and Ghostwire…to pay Bethesda to not ship those games on Xbox,” Spencer said during his testimony.
“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.”
When Microsoft purchased ZeniMax Media in 2020, it did so for $7.5 billion.
In addition to his comments on Starfield, Spencer said that he couldn’t confirm whether Elder Scrolls VI will be an Xbox exclusive or not. Spencer said that its too early for that decision.
“It’s difficult for us right now to nail down,” he said.
One game that is certain to be an Xbox exclusive is the upcoming Indiana Jones game. Coming from Bethesda, it was confirmed on Thursday that the game will be for Xbox and PC only.
What do you think of Spencer saying that Microsoft purchased Bethesda to guarantee Starfield released on Xbox?
For more Insider Gaming, check out specifically what Spencer said about the status of Elder Scrolls VI.
