Exclusivity has been a big topic concerning many of Microsoft’s games during the Federal Trade Commission hearing concerning Microsoft and Activision. This has naturally led to discussion of an Elder Scrolls 6 PS5 port, which still hasn’t been decided on.
Will there be an Elder Scrolls 6 PS5 version?
Xbox CEO Phil Spencer talked about this during the hearing, according to IGN. He simply said the platforms are “difficult for [them] right now to nail down,” something that’s probably a result of The Elder Scrolls 6 being over five years away, according to Spencer.
“I think we’ve been a little unclear on what platforms it will launch on given how far out the game is,” he said. “It’s difficult for us right now to nail down exactly what platforms that game will launch on. As I said with Elder Scrolls 6, it’s so far out it’s hard to understand what the platforms will even be at this point. It’s the same team that’s finishing Starfield, which comes out this September.”
It’s also entirely possible the game doesn’t even ship on this generation of hardware, as new consoles might be out by the time The Elder Scrolls 6 releases. Xbox even stated during these hearings that 2028 is the year it’s expecting the new hardware, which would put an eight-year gap between generations. Like Spencer said, Bethesda Game Studios is still trying to ship Starfield, something it’ll likely support for years, so there are still a lot of unknown variables.
Spencer also stated during the hearing that he has “made public statements [saying] that Elder Scrolls 6 will skip PlayStation,” but then said he didn’t remember saying that, which makes it all a bit confusing.
Spencer has previously hinted that the RPG will be skip PlayStation platforms in November 2021.
“It’s not about punishing any other platform, like I fundamentally believe all of the platforms can continue to grow,” said Spencer. “But in order to be on Xbox, I want us to be able to bring the full complete package of what we have. And that would be true when I think about Elder Scrolls VI. That would be true when I think about any of our franchises.”
Xbox is keeping MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game as an exclusive, but The Outer Worlds 2 is, like The Elder Scrolls 6, still up in the air. When talking about The Outer Worlds 2, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty stated that Microsoft tends to keep franchises on the same platform family, meaning that there’s more of a likelihood that PlayStation players won’t miss out on The Elder Scrolls. However, it seems as though the final decisions on these topics are quite far away from happening.
