Per a new report, Starfield, the upcoming franchise from Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda Game Studios, will not be released on Sony's PlayStation. Instead, the new IP from the studio will release exclusively on Microsoft's Xbox console, as well as PC.
The report comes via GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb, who cites sources familiar with the decision in the report. There was always speculation that Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax could potentially mean some of, if not all of the company's future games would wind up exclusive. While Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has confirmed there will be exclusives, he's also signaled Microsoft would support existing franchises on other platforms.
Starfield is exclusive to Xbox and PC. Period. This is me confirming that. https://t.co/j78Msk8nyG
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) May 15, 2021
That doesn't seem to be the case with new IP, as Starfield will reportedly be released exclusively on Microsoft's console, as well as on PC. The key to keep in mind here is Microsoft's Game Pass service. Grubb cites the need for Microsoft to grow the service, with the tech giant treating it as "an investment into a larger service."
Starfield is billed as a sci-fi role-playing game, and sees the creation of one of the first new IPs from Bethesda Game Studios, the team behind The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, in quite some time. We don't know much about Starfield itself, though developer Todd Howard did go into a bit more detail back in November 2020, but it seems if you bought a PS5 in the hopes of checking out this new IP when it hits, you might be disappointed.
Microsoft and Bethesda, for their part, have yet to comment on the report. We'll be sure to update this story if and when they do comment.