In an interview with British GQ, Xbox boss Phil Spencer outlined his thoughts on The Elder Scrolls 6 and its place within the wider Xbox ecosystem – seemingly confirming once again that Bethesda’s far-off Skyrim follow-up isn’t coming to PS5. “It’s not about punishing any other platform, like I fundamentally believe all of the platforms can continue to grow,” Spencer said to GQ. “But in order to be on Xbox, I want us to be able to bring the full complete package of what we have. And that would be true when I think about Elder Scrolls 6. That would be true when I think about any of our franchises.” This shouldn’t really come as any surprise, though: back in November 2020, Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart said that Microsoft would like Bethesda’s upcoming games to be “either first or better or best” on Xbox platforms, followed by Spencer outlining future Bethesda titles will indeed be exclusive to “platforms where Game Pass exists.” That focus on Game Pass also makes an appearance in the recent GQ interview, too: Spencer, at one point, notes that “before [Game Pass] you might want to make this game, and then you’re gonna sit in a lot of forecasting sales meetings, and say, ‘well, I don’t know if we can make that game’. Game Pass opens up the creative canvas to many more types of games that may not find an audience in other ways.” Bethesda knows it’s a huge gap between previous Elder Scrolls title, Skyrim, and this new project – but whilst that gap between games “isn’t a good thing”, Starfield was a ‘now or never’ project. If you’re eager for your Bethesda fantasy fix in the meantime, there’s always the Skyrim Anniversary Edition to entertain yourself with.
