Bethesda games will likely be “first or better” (not “only”) on Xbox

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  A quick tour of some of the Bethesda gaming franchises Microsoft now owns begins with The Elder Scrolls series. [credit: Bethesda ]

Following Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda in September, gamers and industry watchers were left to speculate over whether you'd need a Microsoft platform (i.e., an Xbox, a Windows PC, or xCloud streaming) to play future games in franchises like Doom, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Dishonored, and The Evil Within.

Now, Microsoft Xbox CFO Tim Stuart has given the clearest indication yet that future Bethesda Softworks games likely won't be exclusive to Microsoft platforms. Instead, Stuart says he suspects Microsoft will shift to "a first or better or best approach on our platforms" for these kinds of games.

Speaking at the Jeffries Interactive Entertainment Virtual Conference last Friday (as transcribed by Seeking Alpha), Stuart said directly that "in the long run... we don't have intentions of just pulling all of Bethesda content out of Sony or Nintendo or otherwise. But what we want is we want that content, in the long run, to be either first or better or best or pick your differentiated experience, on our platforms."

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