Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has confirmed his belief of potentially losing Starfield to PlayStation. Starfield is, 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 with Microsoft’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 like Starfield. 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.
The trial between Microsoft and Activison Blizzard has brought head of Xbox Phil Spencer himself 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: Tokyo and Deathloop – he feared that Bethesda’s biggest upcoming title, Starfield was next.
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There have been many controversial exclusivity deals in the world of video games over 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 of Final 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 as God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Final Fantasy 16, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Xbox’s recent Redfall disappointment, it appears that Spencer is putting all his eggs in the Starfield basket 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.”
Starfield launches September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN