I am hopeful that this is written with a knowing wink - because all business (regardless of country or culture of origin) is pretty ruthless and vicious at the level we’re talking about.
It could be construed as a generalisation on Japanese Culture, which I would assume you are not doing. Either way, please be mindful of the word you use when referring to other cultures.
Because they don’t have enough games ready from their studios as just last year they released two major games in tlou2 and ghost of tsushima. They’ve realized that exclusives and the perceived value they bring are important and they’re investing accordingly. It’s also cheaper to pay for exclusivity.
I would not put a whole lot of weight behind anything Brad Sams says. Thinking about this logically why on earth would Bethesda have this as a condition ? It only creates more dev work pre and post launch, additional testing, marketing etc all to benefit Playstation users. They themselves don’t need the money coming in and MS right now need the focus on Game Pass.
I think the vagueness is only there so MS are not locking themselves to any one path. For the next few years anything that can be exclusive will be exclusive. If Game Pass gets real traction then everything is exclusive going forward. If not then they release on other platforms to recoup money.
I think Phil’s blogpost was left ambiguous on purpose because you can interpret it anyway you like. We also don’t know what deals zenimax did before the change of ownership which Microsoft will have to honour. Because of the ambiguity Xbox and gamepass is all people are discussing in the gaming industry at the moment. I’m sure we’ll learn more around E3 time.
My dude.
Have you already forgotten the recent acquisitions of Playground, Ninja Theory, inXile, Obsidian, Double Fine & Compulsion? Have you forgotten 343, The Coalition, Turn 10 & Rare?
Even if we ignore all of the Zenimax studios, Xbox already has an impressive first-party lineup that will be bringing exciting exclusive content to the platform or ecosystem or whatever you want to call it. In no way, shape or form is multi-platform the standard among Xbox studios.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons why they are taking it a bit easier with transitioning the Zenimax studios to full exclusive? Because they already have a whole bunch of full exclusive games in the works already? That’s just a guess. I don’t know but it seems plausible.
Honestly I think a lot of folk (not only aiming this at you) need to just chill & let this situation develop. MS have been setting up the pieces to play a longer game for quite some time now. The Zenimax purchase, as huge as it is, was only their latest move. I honestly don’t think that we, as Xbox fans, have a lot to worry about.
Like Xbox Live Gold fiasco. 
My main worry is MS will stay american-centric company like it was before and will continue losing other markets. Or imagine “console launch exclusive” before Starfield reveal…
I mean, Sony as far as I remember put small letters on the bottom when the game is not exclusive, while MS uses big letters before the reveal.
See it always comes back to some lazy and weird analysis. Microsoft are one of the biggest companies in the world. Their recent performances are astronomical including their gaming division. Are you saying they don’t know what they are doing? If so perhaps if I sent you a few hundred dollars you could provide a better return than MS given they clearly haven’t got a clue and you are far better off. Perhaps every company making less revenue and profit than MS must be complete and utter clowns then if this is the case?
Now, what kind of evolution do you guys want to see from Bethesda games?
They now have a ton of support to expand and be extremely creative, if they don’t know how to make vehicles, Turn 10; flying? Asobo; shooting? 343, Coalition, Id…
They have so many possibilities now it’s insane, Bethesda will go absolutely crazy for TES6.
Skyrim intro, but instead of the carriage we have truck, instead of imperials we have locusts (with hell behind the scenes) and instead of dragon we have boeing.
So you think it’s purely PR and that they don’t have any data to suggest it’s getting people into PlayStation?
We’ve already seen an example of this very thing with Fallout 4, haven’t we? Can’t remember off the top of my head but wasn’t id involved there? Anyway, the gunplay in that game was a major step up.
I’ve always felt that using the 3rd person camera in BGS games is a very unpleasant experience, so that would be an area I’d love to see improved.
I think it is because third person is more complex and expensive to do than first person. All that animation and stuff.
Releasing a system seller on other platform is such a loser move, it’s like saying " yeah we understand PS user don’t want to go into our ecosystem because it is bad, so we give you the game "
I don’t understand why people try to downplay exclusive importance in 2021, why Sony would not make Spiderman on Xbox 3 years after the release ? It wouldn’t hurt PS brand and it would make them a lot of money right ?
The coalition can surely help with some 3rd person stuff. I’d like to see more vehicles in their games and more expansive areas to traverse, I want to see big dungeons in the distance while riding a horse in the desert if TES6 takes place in hammerfell.
Giving the current Ms interest I really don’t see they agreeing with such a proposition of having Bethesda staying MP. If that was a deal breaker for them likely the deal wouldn’t have been made. Because Ms is actively investing in exclusive content at this time. Unlike say when they bought Minecraft.
I doubt they will pull FO76 and ESO from Playstation as well, but perhaps they keep it on Ps4 only instead of upgrading to PS5 like they are going to with SX…
But all in all I’d say Starfield is a safe bet for being the first big exclusive, as it’s constantly brought up by Phil hilmself.
Quite the opposite, they know it gets people into their ecosystem that’s why they are investing so much.
Having specialist that devs can access will be a great boon to all. Best practices seminars can improve the quality of all titles.
Like a Wise Man said, a rising tide lifts all boats 
This, if they find any difficulties in development they can just contact some other studio or MS specialist and they’re golden.
Lmaooo this thread as of late 
