Xbox CFO wants Bethesda Softworks games to be "first or best" on Xbox

Xbox’s ongoing Bethesda Softworks parent company Zenimax Media acquisition is still leaving fans whether the long-running Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises will be Xbox exclusive.  Following new comments from Xbox CFO Tim Stuart, we still don’t know.  

Speaking at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment conference, thanks Seeking Alpha,  the Xbox CFO explained that whatever content they don’t decide to keep as exclusives for the Xbox platform will either be “first or best” on Microsoft’s ecosystem.

“What we’ll do in the long run is we don’t have intentions of just pulling all of Bethesda content out of Sony or Nintendo or otherwise,” the Xbox CFO explained at the conference.

“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. We will want Bethesda content to show up the best as — on our platforms.”

Stuart explained that Microsoft will be using Bethesda’s content to further bolster the lineup of their video game subscription service Xbox Game Pass.

“Yes. That’s not a point about being exclusive. That’s not a point about we’re being — adjusting timing or content or road map. But if you think about something like Game Pass, if it shows up best in Game Pass, that’s what we want to see, and we want to drive our Game Pass subscriber base through that Bethesda pipeline.”

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed that Bethesda games will only be exclusive to Xbox hardware on a case-by-case basis. Whether those games will ever be fully exclusive or not is not confirmed.  If not, Microsoft has stated that they will be able to recoup their $7.5 billion investment without bringing games to PS5.