Xbox can get back $7.5 million to buy Bethesda without selling PlayStation games

One of the big questions raised after Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda was whether the studio’s upcoming games would be released on PlayStation. The absence of Fallout 5 or The Elder Scrolls 6 on Sony’s console means the studio will lose a lot of game sales, but it will play a more important role in Microsoft’s grand plan. If you’re a fan of Bethesda’s open-world RPG and Xbox-only games, this will likely play a role in deciding where you spend your money.

In an interview with Kotaku, Xbox executive vice president Phil Spencer didn’t say Microsoft would release Xbox-exclusive Bethesda games in the future, but he emphasized that they might. When asked if the company could get back the $7.5 million it used to acquire the studio without selling the Elder Scrolls 6 game on the PlayStation console, Spencer replied, “Maybe.”

“I don’t mean anything. The acquisition of Bethesda is not about taking games from another group of gamers. There is no documentation that we will. ‘How do we want other players to not be able to play this game?’ We want as many people playing the game as possible, not making it less.”

“But I will say this – I am answering your question – when I think about the platforms people are playing on and the number of devices we have. Microsoft has xCloud, PC, Game Pass, and console. I don’t need to sell those games on any other platform than the ones we support. You can understand whatever you want.”

Spencer previously said that Microsoft will honor previous agreements with games that launch on PS5, but after that, it will be up to them to decide which games will make it to PS5. As Kotaku points out, Microsoft can favor its own platforms. For example, they could sell The Elder Scrolls 6 (or something) at full price for PlayStation while including the game in Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft still doesn’t know what its intentions are on console exclusivity down the road, but we can see Spencer weighing options.