The Elder Scrolls 6 Will Hit Xbox Game Pass Day One, Bethesda Confirms
Upcoming titles The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one of their launches, according to Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard. Microsoft's acquisition of the company isn't yet wrapped up, but this news indicates both parties are confident the deal will finish without a hitch.
Microsoft announced back in September it had purchased ZeniMax Media, which owns Bethesda and id Software, among other companies, for $7.5 billion. This dealt a massive blow to Sony in the console war leading up to the next-gen release this month. The acquisition, which should finish up sometime in 2021, gives Microsoft exclusive rights to the majority of Bethesda's best franchises, including Fallout, DOOM, and The Elder Scrolls, in addition to Bethesda's upcoming space RPG Starfield. Bethesda will still retain a certain degree of autonomy as developers will be able to publish titles for PlayStation on a "case by case" basis. However, Microsoft has gained a huge advantage in taking exclusivity of Bethesda's strongest titles.
Recently, Howard took part in a Develop:Brighton Conference. During a conversation with James Batchelor of GamesIndustry.biz, Howard revealed that while Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 are still a ways off, they'll be available on Xbox Game Pass on the first day of their respective releases. This confirms speculation on how Bethesda would handle its future releases. Howard also dropped a few more tidbits about the two anticipated titles, including that Starfield will eschew multiplayer in favor of a singleplayer format and will be in a universe even bigger than Fallout 76.
Howard remained as tight-lipped as ever about a release date for either title, only saying it'll "be a while." This could mean years, but it could very well mean months, considering Howard's been historically blasé about release dates that ended up happening less than a year later. The implication of two major titles being available on the very first day of their release makes a pretty strong case for the notion Game Pass subscribers will have immediate access to all future Bethesda titles. It's just as possible those same subscribers will essentially never have to pay outright for a Bethesda game in the future, as long it's an Xbox exclusive (which quite a few of them will be).
If that is indeed the case, it may herald a gradual overhaul of how players purchase and play games. It could lead to a phase out of physical and digital one-time purchase copies in favor of monthly subscription streaming services. Bethesda's status as a prolific studio with a considerable degree of clout may make it the standard bearer for such a revolution, or at the very least, the forerunner in Microsoft's ongoing studio acquisition campaign.
Source: Develop:Brighton Conference