Pete Hines, VP for marketing at Bethesda, talks about Xbox exclusivity and what it’s like to develop for smaller platforms.
Starfield was scheduled to be released later this year, September 6, after what felt like a much longer development cycle, but it turns out that fans will have to wait a little longer if circumstances change.
During the current trial between Microsoft/ Activision and the Federal Trade Commission, Hines was asked about the development of Xbox exclusives such as Redfall and Starfield. “We will not put it [Starfield] in nine weeks when we support a whole additional platform, in my opinion,” Hines said.
Finally, Hines concluded that the Starfield team was able to hold more rounds of quality assurance and testing when developing for smaller platforms. In short, it is not very dangerous.
However, Hines also admitted that he was divorced StarfieldExclusivity when Activision titles like Call of Duty were still cross platform, “it was the opposite of what we were asked – told – to do with our other titles”, said Hines.
Apparently, no one at Bethesda was given an introduction for the decision to keep Call of Duty available on PlayStation platforms like the PS5. Hines is under the impression that Phil Spencer will explain everything in an interview as to why there are different restrictions for different titles.
There have been many issues surrounding the Microsoft / Activision acquisition as the CMA initiated deal blocking matters followed by the EU approving the deal almost immediately after the UK government blocked the deal. Controversy surrounds Microsoft’s idea of building a cloud gaming monopoly.
In response Microsoft began to make slightly strange deals such as offering a 10-year Call of Duty contract with PlayStation and promising to allow the FPS series to run on the Nintendo Switch, even though it didn’t. y evidence that it can.
As Xbox begins to break out its own exclusive titles, it’s a good time to check out the most anticipated upcoming Xbox Series X|S titles.
