In case you missed it, boycotting the PS5 is now in vogue.
First, E3 quietly snubbed the PS5 in plain sight. The first official trailer for E3 2021 had been edited and reuploaded to remove a segment that featured a PS5 DualSense controller. (Sensitive much?)
Now, Microsoft and Bethesda have confirmed that the upcoming RPG Starfield will be an Xbox Series X|S and PC exclusive.
Yes, you read that right. No PS5 action for one of the biggest games of 2021.
Call me IP maybe?
Described by its developers as a sci-fi special that follows a ‘Skyrim in space” vibe, Starfield is Bethesda’s first original RPG in 25 years.
Let’s face it. While we’ve all known Bethesda to push out blockbuster games across all platforms across the years, they’ve always done exceptionally well for the PC platform.
Things started to go downhill when Microsoft acquired Bethesda in a USD$ 7.5 billion deal back in March this year. The deal saw Microsoft making a clean sweep of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. This agreement included the ownership of other sub-studios under the brand like The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks, id Software of Doom acclaim, and Dishonored developer Arkane. Almost overnight, Microsoft’s first-party game studio tally rose to 23. (Who says money can’t buy you street cred?)
PS5 fans were naturally up in arms by the move as speculations arose that ZeniMax would now be an Xbox and PC exclusive brand. Any doubts about the future strategy of the company were put to rest at the E3 press conference as the company made it crystal clear that the PS5 was most definitely not part of its plans. Whether it’s Starfield from Bethesda or Redfall from Arkane, almost all its future titles will be coming exclusively to Xbox Game Pass.
From a business perspective, this makes sense. This will allow Xbox to leverage on exclusives and bring its new-gen gaming experience to PC, smart TVs and mobile phones. There’s even talk of older Xbox Ones joining in the party.
But with all the hype about licensing and gaming rights, all we got was a disappointing CGI trailer with minimal visuals, sketchy storyboarding and zero gameplay indications.
This brings into question another Bethesda debacle — Fallout 76 which also premiered at E3 several years ago, generating much hype only to fall flat upon its launch.
With such a trashy build-up to one of the most anticipated games of the year, maybe PS5 fans are better off without Bethesda.
