Microsoft president Brad Smith said on a blog post:
"First, some commentators have asked whether
we will continue to make POPULAR CONTENT LIKE Activision’s Call of Duty available on competing platforms like Sony’s PlayStation. The obvious concern is that Microsoft could make this title available exclusively on the Xbox console, undermining opportunities for Sony PlayStation users. "(Note: "like" implies it isn't limited to CoD)
"To be clear,
Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty AND OTHER POPULAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD TITLES available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision. And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love.
We are also interested in taking similar steps to support Nintendo’s successful platform. We believe this is the right thing for the industry, for gamers and for our business."
Then on
a TV interview he said:
"One of the things we’re being very clear about as we move forward with the regulatory review of this acquisition is that
GREAT TITLES LIKE Call of Duty from Activision Blizzard today, will continue to be available on the Sony PlayStation. We’d like to bring it to Nintendo devices. We’d like to bring THE OTHER POPULAR TITLES ACTIVISION BLIZZARD HAS, and ensure that they continue to be available on PlayStation, [and] that they become available on Nintendo." (Note: notice "like" means it doesn't only apply to CoD)
Regarding specifically Bethesda the
Xbox CFO said similar things when mentioned their plans for Bethesda:
"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. 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.
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.
So again, I'm not announcing pulling content from platforms one way or the other. But I suspect you'll continue to see us shift towards a first or better or best approach on our platforms."
Do you really think that the President of Microsoft, the CEO and CFO of their gaming division, plus now in the OP booty lie to their customers, regulators and investors when saying things like these? Like Starfield, they make make a some games console exclusive -at least timed console exclusive- according to their CFO but Bethesda and Activision will continue releasing new games of their popular franchises on PS after the acquisitions, not only DLCs. As Zenimax did with Quake Remastered.