Future Bethesda titles will be “first or best” on Xbox

Speculations about Bethesda’s future once again arise after remarks of Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart surfaced. According to Stuart, upcoming Bethesda titles will offer the best or first experiences on the Xbox platform. But not only there.

The news comes from a recent Jefferies Interactive Entertainment Virtual Conference (transcript via Seeking Alpha) where Tim Stuart talked about the vision for Bethesda and Xbox.

After Microsoft announced the acquisition of Bethesda, everyone expected the company’s games to become Xbox exclusive. Not the least thanks to Phil Spencer himself. Details from the conference talk paint a different picture, however.

Stuart confirms that his team does not plan on ‘pulling away all Bethesda content‘ from Sony and Nintendo platforms. This is a huge relief for millions of gamers who don’t plan to get an Xbox or gaming PC.

Stuart was very careful in his wording, and things can of course change in the future. But for now, the team over at Xbox gives Bethesda the freedom of choice where to release their games. Meaning, it’s not out of the question that the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout will come to the PS5 and future Switch.

There is a caveat, however. Stuart states that they absolutely want to expand their own player base by offering Bethesda games either first or as the best version on their consoles. What this exactly means remains to be seen.

Naturally, timed-exclusivity on the Xbox would make sense. But the ‘best’ description leaves us and many other curious. Will the Xbox receive more content, better visuals than other platforms? At least, chances of future Bethesda games on non-Xbox platforms increased a whole lot.

One thing is for sure, though. The Bethesda deal is only part of a larger plan to establish and grow the Xbox Game Pass even more. And it looks like Microsoft will succeed.