Microsoft snapped up Bethesda to prevent Starfield from skipping Xbox By Heidi Nicholas, 26 Jun 2023 FollowtopicsXbox Series X|SHeidi Nicholas Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition was seemingly prompted by hearing that Starfield could be skipping Xbox consoles entirely.Microsoft's ongoing efforts with its proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition continue to bring us nuggets of interesting Xbox news, including Xbox boss Phil Spencer's suggestion that Microsoft wanted to acquire Bethesda to avoid more games, specifically Starfield, being involved in Sony deals to skip Xbox.Starfield could have skipped Xbox after all“When we acquired ZeniMax one of the impetus for that is that Sony had done a deal for Deathloop and Ghostwire... to pay Bethesda to not ship those games on Xbox. So the discussion about Starfield when we heard that Starfield was potentially also going to end up skipping Xbox, we can’t be in a position as a third-place console where we fall further behind on our content ownership so we’ve had to secure content to remain viable in the business," Spencer said during the hearing between Microsoft and the FTC (thanks, The Verge). From what we've seen from the most recent Starfield gameplay deep-dive, Bethesda's space RPG is shaping up to be massive, which is a good thing when considering that Elder Scrolls 6 is still at least five years away.What do you make of Spencer's comments?More Starfield stories: All confirmed Xbox games coming to Game Pass in 2023 and beyond Starfield's planet surveying is almost "zen-like," says Todd Howard The best of Summer Game Fest 2023 Xbox Games Showcase 2023: All reveals and Xbox Game Pass announcements Starfield locked at 30fps on Xbox Series X|S Xbox Series X|SIndustry News Written by Heidi NicholasHeidi tends to lean towards indie games, RPGs, and open-world games on Xbox, and when not playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, happily installs every new wholesome game that appears on Xbox Game Pass, before diving back into favorites like The Witcher 3. She's looking forward to Age of Mythology Retold, Everwild, Fable, and Avowed on the Xbox horizon. Heidi graduated with an MA in English Literature before joining the TrueAchievements team.