Microsoft Bringing Future Bethesda Games to Xbox Pass on Day One

According to Phil Specter, head honcho over at Xbox, Microsoft is making big plays with their recent acquisition of Zenimax. Namely, they will be adding “Bethesda’s iconic franchises” to the Xbox Game Pass on both the consoles and PC. This also increases Microsoft’s number of creative studios from fifteen to twenty-three. Most importantly, however, they plan to bring future Bethesda titles to the Xbox Game Pass on launch day. That should add some value to the subscription.

The official announcement doesn’t really mention what’s going to happen with titles from the other studios, aka Arkane, id Software, and others. However, I think it’s safe to assume that it’ll be the same like with the Bethesda games. In other words, whether you want to play Starfield, or future Fallouts, DOOMs, Elder Scrolsseses, etc, Xbox is going to be your best, and certainly earliest, bet.

Now, I know what some of you are wondering – how is this going to impact the release of these games on other platforms? Well, according to Jason Schreier, Microsoft will honor previously-made exclusivity deals between Zenimax and Sony. Specifically, Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo will remain timed PS5 exclusives, as originally planned. After that, they’ll be bringing future games to other consoles on a “case-by-case basis.” Other than that, you’ll find them on “Xbox, PC and Microsoft’s Game Pass.” What about other PC platforms, like Steam? I guess that remains to be seen.

So, there you have it, people. That’s the information we have for now. I’m sure we’ll be learning more and more about how Microsoft will manage all those sweet, sweet new IPs they now lord over, and how Sony is going to retaliate, if at all. One thing I’m fairly certain of – there’ll be a sharp increase in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. Fun times ahead.