Microsoft issued a statement to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its proposed acquisition of Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty owner Activision Blizzard, in which the company describes how three Upcoming Bethesda games, potentially RPG Starfield, vampire shooter Redfall, and a Skyrim sequel The Elder Scrolls 6 will be exclusive to PC and Xbox, sparking more speculation as we anticipate Elder Scrolls 6’s release date.
In early December, the FTC filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard settlement, alleging that it could harm consumers and competition in the video game industry. This was followed by a civil lawsuit from a group of ten “video gamers” who also claimed that the settlement would harm the gaming market.
Microsoft has published a response to the FTC lawsuit outlining its plans for future Bethesda games by buying studio parent company ZeniMax Media in 2020.
“The connection of the complaint to Microsoft’s recent acquisition of ZeniMax, a collection of game studios acquired in 2020, is not relevant to the current settlement,” Microsoft said, referring to the lawsuit filed by the FTC. “Xbox expects that three future games, each designed to be played primarily alone or in small groups, will be exclusive to Xbox and PC.”
The game titles are redacted from the public version of Microsoft’s statement, but space RPG Starfield and co-op vampire shooter Redfall have already been confirmed as exclusives to the company’s platforms when they launch in 2023. Elder Scrolls 6 could very well be the Skyrim game. successor. In November 2021, GQ interviewed Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer and hinted at the possibility of The Elder Scrolls 6 becoming a PC and Xbox exclusive.
“This is not about punishing another platform, I fundamentally believe that all platforms can continue to grow,” Spencer said. “But to be on Xbox, I want us to be able to deliver the full package of what we have. And that would be true when I think of Elder Scrolls 6. It would be true when I think of any of our franchises.”
Microsoft’s statement to the FTC also addresses the possibility of Call of Duty becoming a PC and Xbox exclusive if Activision’s roughly $69 billion acquisition of Blizzard is successful.
“Keeping Activision’s games widely available is both a business and a benefit to gamers,” Microsoft says. “Paying $68.7 billion to Activision doesn’t make financial sense if that revenue stream stops. It also doesn’t make sense to degrade the gameplay and alienate the millions of Call of Duty players who play together using different types of consoles. The damage to Xbox’s reputation will not outweigh any of the theoretical economic benefits of removing Call of Duty from the competition.”
Microsoft also argues that the FTC “cannot meet its burden of showing that the transaction will make consumers worse off” and argues that the FTC’s request should be dismissed.
Source : PC Gamesn
