The court case to justify why Microsoft can take over Activision Blizzard is currently ongoing. In a reply to the UK Markets Inspectorate Statement about the acquisition the publisher suggests that making a “mid-size” game like the upcoming one makes good business sense for them The Elder Scrolls VI exclusive while arguing that there is simply too much money to be made from it call of Duty on PlayStation to pull that from the Sony platform.
Yes, Microsoft is once again trying to explain why Games that sell millions of units are no big deal. For real. don’t pay attention The Elder Scrolls VI or starfield on the horizon while Microsoft tries to ram this $70 billion Deal by regulators around the world.
ZeniMax and Bethesda games released prior to the acquisition are still available on the PlayStation Store at the time of writing. death loop and Ghostwire: Tokyo were previously planned for the PlayStation as part of Sony’s deals with ZeniMax. However, the fate of new games is still uncertain. redfall and starfield, which will be released in 2023, are said to be exclusive to Xbox and PC. Which begs the question: how does Xbox decide which games are coming to PlayStation consoles or not? Microsoft has helpfully provided a chart.
First off, games with cross-platform play are less likely to become exclusive. Microsoft then divided games into three categories: Niche, New IP/Unsafe Audience, and Mass Market Audience. Mass-market and niche titles will reportedly have the lowest console exclusivity value, while new IPs with uncertain audiences will have the highest.
I understand that starfield is a new IP, but it feels a little disingenuous when Microsoft argues that the fanbase is more “engaged” than universally appealing. Or that Fallout 76 is a niche title despite boasting a player base of 13 million people. Of course, this isn’t the first time the publisher has made such outlandish claims. Two months ago, it denied the call of Duty is an essential game series. Now it’s finally admitting it codThe player base size of is not comparable to most of the other AAA games it publishes.
Microsoft also seems to argue that Making The Elder Scrolls VI An Xbox and PC exclusivity wouldn’t hurt Sony significantly – which definitely suggests the upcoming title could skip PlayStation. By placing a statement about this under a section about “medium sized games”, it argues this Elder Scrolls is nowhere comparable to the popularity of Minecraft or call of Duty, these are two titles that will remain available on the PlayStation. The company also points out that the last Elder Scrolls The game was released in 2011 to further refute claims that it would “disenfranchise” PlayStation players by not releasing it on the platform. my city emailed Xbox to ask whether or not Elder Scrolls VI will be exclusive to its platforms, but received no response at the time of publication.
I’m sure the news must be devastating Elder Scrolls fans. But right now I’m laughing my ass off at the mental backflips Microsoft is asking regulators to do.
