I’m not sorry Starfield is an Xbox exclusive — and Bethesda shouldn't be either

I'yard not sorry Starfield is an Xbox sectional — and Bethesda shouldn't be either

Starfield for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC

(Image credit: Bethesda)

In the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase at E3 2021 it was finally confirmed that Starfield will be a PC and Xbox Series Ten and Series Southward exclusive. Given the game could be "Skyrim in space," the reaction from PS5 and older PlayStation fans wasn't positive.

A few days later on, Bethesda senior vice president of marketing and communication Pete Hines apologized to PlayStation fans. "I don't know how to allay the fears and concerns of PlayStation 5 fans, other than to say, 'I'one thousand a PlayStation v player besides, and I've played games on that panel, and at that place's games I'one thousand going to continue to play on information technology'," Hines said in an interview with GameSpot. "But if you lot desire to play Starfield, [information technology's] PC and Xbox. Sad. All I tin really say is, I apologize."

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I don't call up he should take.

Hines explained that Xbox and PC exclusivity for Starfield will let Bethesda get the most out of the latest Xbox consoles and PC hardware, and that "narrow focus" on making a game for select platforms can make for better development. This has been the case for Deathloop, said Hines, an upcoming PS5 and PC sectional due for release in December.

This is a fine point. Big Bethesda games accept often come up hampered by bugs at launch, potentially considering they've been developed for multiple platforms. Have the fantastic Skyrim as an instance. Information technology was developed for both the PS3 and Xbox 360, which had very different underlying hardware, and tin can't take been like shooting fish in a barrel for Bethesda; Skyrim had a lot of bugs at launch.

It's only business organization

xbox and bethesda games showcase — (Image credit: Microsoft)

But putting that aside, Bethesda and parent company ZeniMax Media was bought by Microsoft. And so it'southward no surprise that Microsoft is going to apply its investment in the publisher and its recumbent developers to go more than Xbox and Windows x PC exclusives; that's merely good business sense.

Big triple-A games aren't cheap to brand, so having Microsoft'due south financial clout makes sense for Bethesda. As does any effort by Microsoft to extract more than value out of that bargain, even if that might hateful hampering its main rival from Nihon.

When Microsoft'south purchase of ZeniMax Media was get-go announced, I remember thinking that it probably won't see major Bethesda games become exclusives, as Microsoft tin can still make money through Sony's consoles. But my colleague Rory Mellon argued the contrary, and has somewhat been proven correct; I notwithstanding call back The Elder Scrolls 6 won't be Xbox exclusive.

And as much as I idea that Bethesda would go on its largest games as multiplatform games, the harsh reality is money talks and gaming is an industry not but a bunch of hobbyists and coders cranking out fun things for us to play.

However, I think that this exclusivity — for Starfield at to the lowest degree — is really a adept thing.

Exclusive enthusiasm

Every bit Hines said, keeping development focused on one console platform — or one.5 if you count the Series S — can make for tighter development. And that'south likely to lead to a better overall game.

Somewhen, Starfield could exist ported over to the PS5. If that happens all the efforts put into opposing the launch game could be carried over to Sony's panel though this is some rampant speculation on my part.

While some might bewail that Bethesda is under the Microsoft imprint, I think that'due south a positive thing, fifty-fifty if it means Xbox exclusivity for the developer's large games. That'south because Microsoft has a vast corporeality of resources, from coin and engineers, to powerful programmer tools, auto learning research and a huge deject infrastructure, which Bethesda could harness.

All that could pb to more interesting gaming features in the likes of Starfield, say cloud-powered AI or high-fidelity procedurally generated worlds. Or Bethesda could tap into Microsoft'south coding and software expertise to ensure Starfield is well-optimized across a variety of Windows x machines and runs perfectly on the new Xbox consoles.

Furthermore, Microsoft is expanding Xbox Cloud Streaming to allow Xbox I consoles to stream Xbox Serial X games, and information technology'southward bringing game streaming to browsers so iPads and iPhones tin stream some of the best Xbox I games, like their Android counterparts.

All that means that Starfield, nether Microsoft's yolk, could exist accessible to people who've struggled to notice an Xbox Series 10 restock or don't have access to some of the best gaming PCs. Cheers' to Microsoft'due south cloud tech — Azure has the second largest deject infrastructure in the world — Starfield'south Xbox and PC exclusivity could, somewhat ironically, brand the game more than accessible.

Having more than PS5 and Xbox exclusives is also an overall skillful affair. Sure, finding a PS5 restock is also a nightmare and buying two near-$500 consoles isn't the most affordable thing in gaming. Simply having games that are made and optimized for specific consoles means both become compelling devices. As such, if you get bored of 1 after a few years you lot could so swap information technology for the other, which should be flush with exclusive games.

So rather than feel the need to repent for Starfield exclusivity, Hines should be touting information technology as the fuel for making Starfield the very all-time it tin be in one case it launches on Nov 11, 2022. And this exclusive games approach could exist a very expert thing for gaming fans in the long-term.

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Roland Moore-Colyer is U.Chiliad. Editor at Tom'southward Guide with a focus on news, features and stance articles. He ofttimes writes virtually gaming, phones, laptops and other $.25 of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk-bound Roland tin be found wandering effectually London, often with a look of marvel on his face up.