Microsoft made the landmark announcement earlier this week that it had acquired the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, highlighting that Bethesda's "iconic franchises" would be added to Xbox Game Pass as a result.
We've already seen evidence of this in the form of DOOM Eternal, which hits the service on October 1st, and Bethesda's Todd Howard recently spoke more about his appreciation for Game Pass in an interview with Xbox's Major Nelson.
Specifically, he highlighted how the service "broadens the canvas" for game creators:
"[Xbox Game Pass] democratises all types of content. There are games that kind of get lost in greenlights for how many copies they're going to sell, what the price point is, and at the end of the day that limits what you want to do sometimes.
And the fact that you have that system now that people are so excited about, it really opens up the creative opportunities where you can just focus on, 'I'm going to make the best thing that people want to look at', and not worry about some of those other things that I think can distract you from making something unique. And so, I think it broadens the whole canvas for games, not just what we do but across gaming.
It's something that I personally have looked for, for a long time. And I'm just overjoyed at what it's doing."
Bethesda VP of PR & Marketing Pete Hines also gave his thoughts on Xbox Game Pass during the interview, stating the company wants "as many people as possible playing our games," and pointing out that the publisher's entire back catalogue could ultimately end up on the service - it's apparently all down to Xbox boss Phil Spencer!
What do you make of Howard's comments? Do you agree? Let us know down below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 15
I really appreciate the fact that someone can now create their passion project and I can give it a go. I'm playing and really enjoying Tell me why right now and I can tell you i wouldn't have ever touched it if had to buy it. Creators get to express themselves and we as player's get to enjoy the hidden gems. Not every game has to be 500 hours long....i ain't got no time for that.
"as many people as possible playing our games,"
Does that include PS5/PS4 and Switch? Since making (all) your games available on those platforms gives like a potential 100+ million players/purchases.
@BrintaPap Both Microsoft and Bethesda has been very friendly putting games on Switch, I doubt that will stop happening when it's possible.
PS5 on the other hand... that's a different story
@BrintaPap Their games aren't going anywhere on PS4 and Switch. The only difference now is that their games are going to be available on more platforms through Game Pass (PC, Xbox, smartphones) and in turn reach more people than if they weren't on Game Pass.
And no, I don't think Microsoft is going to make franchises like Elder Scrolls and Fallout exclusive to Xbox in the future. The primary point of acquiring ZeniMax was for them to increase the value of Game Pass.
@BrintaPap Why target only few million when you can instead target 2B+ players? And yes I fully think Microsoft has spent 7.5B$ cash for keeping new IPs as exclusive to Xbox ecosystem. Only service games like Elder Scrolls Online make sense to keep multiplatform on a case by case basis.
I actually used to be the guy who turned his nose up at the idea of playing his games all digitally, but these days, I don't like the clutter of physical games, except for game franchises I am a huge fan of. This service has been a godsend for my wallet, and my clutter in my house.
@BrintaPap Why are you even asking? Did you miss Minecraft and Outerworlds?
I will say, Bethesda games becoming a permanent addition to Game Pass really makes that service feel a lot more special, dare I say I think Game Pass at this point is just a superior alternative to actually buying an Xbox console for myself personally.
@LtSarge gamepass is Xbox and Xbox is gamepass. PC, xcloud and consol are one and the same so an exclusive will always be on all those platforms. It means no PlayStation, Amazon, Google and maybe even switch as a mobile streaming is the portable Xbox. People better have unlimited plans or good wifi spots though
@TheFrenchiestFry it will be for many and that's fine, Xbox won't take a hit on selling you the box. I personally don't like playing on a PC... give me a console anyday cuz it's just simple plug n play but that's my preference and totally ok for others to have different preferences. In the future when I replace my TV I will definitely be making sure I can stream on it cuz it's a built in Xbox with xcloud that way
@BrintaPap
Or they could not do Sony any favors & just keep the games exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem & get people to sign up for Game Pass.
If I were Phil, I would never allow any of these games on PlayStation other than ESO online & Fallout 76 since those are live service games.
As far as Nintendo goes, I doubt most of the new games would even run on Switch anyways since it’s so underpowered.
PS4 might have sold 110-115 million and PS5 will do same or better but what is actual attach rate PS5 is such a small % of global gaming Xbox don't need to put any of games acquired by purchasing Zenimax on PS5 I certainly don't see them on Amazon's new cloud service. Xbox needs diversity and exclusives after all and to recoup the $7.5 billion it only needs Xbox, Gamepass, xCloud and PC.
@Medic_Alert
Exactly! It’s like almost every PS fanboy has some mega PC rig that can play all Xbox games on it anyways. 🙄
Which is fine, actually. Microsoft doesn’t care if you play their games on an Xbox or a PC. They get your $ either way & don’t have to take a loss on the box itself. The only ones who brag about console sales are the Ponies. And it’s because Sony & most of their fan base still live in the 90’s & early 2000’s.
I don't understand why people think high-end PC is the best choice especially when they promote PS5 at the same time. Not that Microsoft cares, anyway.
@InterceptorAlpha The Outer Worlds was only multi-platform because it was already planned to be released on the PS4 before Microsoft bought Obsidian. If they had bought them before it was planned to be released on all consoles, then it would have been an Xbox exclusive. If they ever make a sequel, obviously that will be an Xbox exclusive.
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