Starfield could have been a PS5 exclusive, says Xbox exec
Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media was driven, at least in part, by the company’s desire to boast Star field for Xbox, putting it out of Sony’s reach. Xbox head Phil Spencer said this at the Federal Trade Commission hearing to temporarily block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard.
Spencer alleged that competitors, namely Sony Interactive Entertainment, paid to keep games off the Xbox platform. FinalFantasy 16, which was released this week, is one of them, he said. Sony also had a deal with Bethesda Softworks’ Ghostwire: Tokyo And Deathloop to keep Xbox’s games, Spencer said, and was in talks to do the same for Bethesda’s Star field. (It was reported in September 2020 for which Sony had negotiated timed exclusivity Star field.)
“ZeniMax is a good example,” Spencer said. “When we acquired ZeniMax, one of the reasons was that Sony had made a deal Deathloop And Ghost thread and effectively paying Bethesda not to ship those games on Xbox.
Spencer added that it was necessary to “secure ownership” of ZeniMax and Star field to track the number of new games on Xbox. “We can’t be in a position as a third place console where we fall further behind with our content ownership,” he said.
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in September 2020; the $7.5 million deal was completed in March 2021. Both Deathloop And Ghostwire: Tokyo were released after Microsoft’s acquisition as PlayStation exclusives, but Deathloop finally came to Xbox Series X in September 2022. Star field is scheduled for release on September 6 as an Xbox and Windows PC exclusive. Bethesda editor-in-chief Pete Hines said Thursday Star field is “irresponsibly large”, and that it would have definitely slowed down the game on other console platforms.
“As someone who’s played it a lot and sees all this stuff happening,” Hines said, “there’s no question that being able to focus on fewer platforms to support, hardware to support, has been a great benefit to that team.”
Spencer was the second Xbox exec on the stand Friday for the FTC hearing, after senior finance director Jamie Lawver. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley sealed the courtroom for Lawver’s full testimony because of its confidentiality. The proceedings will continue Friday with taped testimony from Sony’s Jim Ryan and testimony from Google Stadia’s Dov Zimring. The FTC is seeking Judge Corley to temporarily block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard. Her decision will determine whether the deal remains on hold until the pending FTC case is resolved.