The Elder Scrolls 6: Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has all but confirmed that The Elder Scrolls VI will be an Xbox system exclusive.
According to an interview with British GQ, Spencer compares the upcoming Skyrim sequel to Starfield, another Bethesda game that was just revealed for the Xbox One, Xbox One X, and PC.
The benefits that the Xbox ecosystem, which includes Cloud Gaming, Xbox Live services, and more, can provide Xbox exclusives appear to be at least part of his justification:
“It’s not about punishing any other platform like I fundamentally believe all of the platforms can continue to grow,” When asked by GQ, Spencer stated.“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.”
There has been speculation that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox One exclusive since ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda, was acquired by Microsoft. Since the Elder Scrolls series is one of Bethesda’s most popular, many have debated whether or not it would be good for Xbox to let the next game in the series be published on rival systems.
Despite Microsoft’s claims that Bethesda games will be launched “first or better or best” on Xbox, Todd Howard, Creative Director at Bethesda, has stated that an Xbox One exclusive version of The Elder Scrolls 6 is “impossible to envision.” It appears that the pendulum has swung back in Spencer’s favor, as he is now sounding much more certain that the highly awaited RPG will remain on platforms owned by Microsoft.
The Elder Scrolls 6 will be exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem.
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— Dave (@GamewithDave) December 4, 2022
Aside from reiterating that development on The Elder Scrolls 6 is ongoing, Todd Howard also noted that the game’s end goal would be the same as in previous entries in the series:
“You go back and you read a review of the first Elder Scrolls. And then you read The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s, then you read The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s. You black out a couple things. And they read the same. ‘You’ve stepped out and oh my gosh, it feels so real.’ People change. Technology changes. But the ultimate goal is still to make it so that, when you boot the game up, you feel like you’ve been transported.”
Even if Howard warned us that the time to make Starfield was now, we still have a while until we get to play it. However, we can anticipate the game to stick to certain tried-and-true formulas, since Bethesda Game Studios is still dedicated to creating single-player adventures.