Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has confirmed his belief of potentially losingStarfieldto PlayStation.Starfieldis, without question Xbox’s biggest game releasing later this year, and the loss of that title could have been devastating for the future of the company.
In September 2020, Xbox made one of the biggest announcements ever withMicrosoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. Not just Bethesda, but the parent company ZeniMax, which granted Xbox the rights to Bethesda’s catalog of past games and future titles likeStarfield. After purchasing Bethesda, Microsoft decided to aim its purchasing power even higher by attempting to buy Activision Blizzard. This deal has not gone as smoothly as the Bethesda one, as Microsoft is currently in a legal battle with the US Federal Trade Commission, which threatens to block the $68.7 billion purchase.
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The trial between Microsoft and Activison Blizzard has broughthead of Xbox Phil Spencerhimself to the witness stand. During questioning, Spencer mentioned that he had to do a lot of work with different companies due to the competitive situation they had against “the market leader,” which can only be assumed to be a reference to PlayStation. Spencer then admitted that Xbox needed to secure the Bethesda deal as a way to produce content for the platform to “remain viable in the business.” He explained that after losing the rights of two Bethesda titles to PlayStation –Ghostwire: TokyoandDeathloop –he feared that Bethesda’s biggest upcoming title,Starfieldwas next.
There have been manycontroversial exclusivity deals in the world of video gamesover the years. Some players wish that all games could be played on every system, but executives like Phil Spencer feel like exclusive games are essential for a company’s survival. During Spencer’s testimony, he also brought up Square Enix’s deal with PlayStation for the exclusive rights ofFinal Fantasy 16, pointing out how common these deals are. However, the big debate with this case is comparing an exclusive deal for a single game and an exclusive deal with an entire company.
As fans argue over if Xbox can keep up with PlayStation’s release schedule, it would seem as if Spencer is worried about the same thing. With PlayStation releasing two to three gigantic titles a year, such asGod of War: Ragnarok,Horizon Forbidden West,Final Fantasy 16,andMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, andXbox’s recentRedfalldisappointment, it appears that Spencer is putting all his eggs in theStarfieldbasket for this year. There’s no telling if this gamble is going to work or not, but one thing’s for sure, this whole situation brings a new meaning to the term “console wars.”
Starfieldlaunches September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
