The Elder Scrolls VI as well as Bethesda's Starfield and Redfall will be Microsoft exclusives, the FTC has said.
We already knew that Starfield will be exclusive to Xbox and PC, and although it hasn't been officially confirmed just yet, it appears that the next entry in The Elder Scrolls series will follow the same route. In the freshly-filed FTC complaint to block Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard transaction, the commission has now also said that The Elder Scrolls VI will be exclusive to Xbox and PC, suggesting that Microsoft is playing a dirty game when it comes to withholding franchises from rival consoles.
We've included the part of the complaint in which the FTC mentions Zenimax's upcoming titles down below:
Microsoft’s past conduct provides a preview of the combined firm’s likely plans if
it consummates the Proposed Acquisition, despite any assurances the company may offer
regarding its plans. In March 2021, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media Inc. (“ZeniMax”), the
parent company of the well-known game developer and publisher Bethesda Softworks LLC
(“Bethesda”). Microsoft assured the European Commission (“EC”) during its antitrust review of
the ZeniMax purchase that Microsoft would not have the incentive to withhold ZeniMax titles
from rival consoles. But, shortly after the EC cleared the transaction, Microsoft made public its
decision to make several of the newly acquired ZeniMax titles, including Starfield, Redfall, and
Elder Scrolls VI, Microsoft exclusives.
Going by earlier words from Xbox head Phil Spencer, The Elder Scrolls VI will indeed be Microsoft exclusive. Back in 2020, Bethesda's Todd Howard, however, said that it would be kind of hard to imagine that the game would be Xbox-exclusive.
"I would agree that is hard to imagine", Howard said when asked about Microsoft locking down The Elder Scrolls VI to Xbox and PC.
Whether The Elder Scrolls VI will end up on PlayStation remains to be seen, but we would be kind of surprised if it did.
A release date for The Elder Scrolls VI has yet to be revealed - as far as we know, the game won't be out before 2025-2026.
