Bethesda Game Studios boss Todd Howard has given fans new hope that The Elder Scrolls 6 will come to PlayStation 5 after all. There's been some confusion about the future of Bethesda games ever since Microsoft's surprise acquisition of the studio, sweeping up classic IPs like Fallout, Doom, and The Elder Scrolls in the process, with many assuming that these games would now be exclusive to Xbox Series X/S (and PC).
However, in a new interview GamesIndustry, journalist James Batchelor asked Howard about the idea of seeing The Elder Scrolls VI as an exclusive - especially since a huge part of Skyrim's immense success came from being multiplatform (several times over, in fact). Howard replied by saying simply, "I would agree that is hard to imagine", but was unable to say any more on the subject.
The future of Bethesda IPs on PlayStation consoles has very much been up in the air since Microsoft's acquisition. Xbox Boss Phil Spencer originally said that he'd review Bethesda titles on a case-by-case basis when it came to console exclusivity - something Howard agreed with - but it doesn't appear to be as simple as all that.
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Speaking to Kotaku earlier this month, Spencer hinted that Microsoft doesn't need to bring TES VI to PS5 to make back the money it spent buying Bethesda in the first place... although he quickly added that doesn't mean it definitely won't come to PS5.
"I don't want to be flip about that," he explained. "This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that. Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: 'How do we keep other players from playing these games?' We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games."
Howard also reminded fans in his most recent interview that every Elder Scrolls game since Morrowind has partnered with Microsoft in some capacity. As such, if there is any kind of exclusivity deal in place - timed or otherwise - it wouldn't be the first time Bethesda has done that.
"If you look at every Elder Scrolls game, there has been some exclusivity on Xbox or with Microsoft," he said. "We've partnered with every game. Morrowind was basically a console exclusive, Oblivion was a long timed exclusive, Skyrim's DLC was exclusive for a long period of time. We'll decide what makes the best sense for our audience when the time comes, and I can't really project today what that looks like."
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For now, then, it looks like nobody is entirely sure what Bethesda's PlayStation future holds. At this point though, I'll more than happily take uncertainty over outright confirmation that The Elder Scrolls VI is never coming to PS5 - right?
Featured Image Credit: BethesdaTopics: PlayStation 5, The Elder Scrolls, Xbox Series X, Bethesda