Phil Spencer Comments On Bethesda Acquisition, Certain Microsoft Can “Recoup” From The Purchase

Over the past month, many are left questioning the future regarding it will be carved for Xbox Game Studios following the purchasing of Zenimax Media. That is in part due to the current first-party lineup for Microsoft’s console ecosystem. While much is not set to arrive at launch – aside from already-released entries – the question lingers on in long term.

Now that Bethesda and the likes of id Software, Arkane Studios, and Tango Gameworks are under the Xbox Game Studios network of teams, the question now looks to be what games will come to fruition uniquely on Xbox. While there are some speculation, Microsoft has yet to comment on which is cemented for an exclusive release. Division lead Phil Spencer disclosed that the picking is settled on a “case-by-case basis” to make that decision.

Another big question still left unanswered is how Microsoft will be able to make back the $7.5 billion investment. When speaking to Kotaku, Spencer was asked just that, where he simply responded “Yes.” But after some thinking, he offered more insight on the Microsoft think tank leading forward:

I don’t want to be flip about that,” he added. “This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that. Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: “How do we keep other players from playing these games?” We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games.

But I’ll also say in the model—I’m just answering directly the question that you had—when I think about where people are going to be playing and the number of devices that we had, and we have xCloud and PC and Game Pass and our console base, I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us. Whatever that means.

Although given that Spencer did not respond to clarify what is to be unique or not to Xbox, if any, he does elaborate on what Microsoft is pursuing in favor of the consumer. Regardless of the platform, the acquisition is told to still provide more anticipated entries for fans already invested and users who yet played a Bethesda game.

Interesting enough, Kotaku does fancy to the idea of Microsoft possibly using the home field advantage of Xbox Game Pass to grab more users over excluding platforms from receiving Bethesda titles. While respected titles will release at full price on PlayStation, the same properties will be at a discounted price via the Netflix-esque service.

What are your thoughts on Spencer’s comment for Bethesda’s acquisition?

Source: Kotaku