Microsoft announced last year that ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary Bethesda Softworks would be acquired by the company and rolled out into the Xbox Game Studios lineup in 2021. what this step means to move forward for all parties. That said, it sounds like this silence will end soon.
Mentioned by GamesBeat’s Jeff Grubb in the latest GamesBeat Decides podcast, Xbox is said to be planning to host some event related to Bethesda in the near future. Grubb says this will be one of the big events Xbox is hosting in the run-up to E3 2021. “Once the deal is closed, they will be talking big about it. I don’t know if it will be a full Direct-ish event, but they will take note and they will talk about it extensively and explain what it means to everyone, ”explained Grubb. “Expect this to happen sometime in mid-March.”
The reason Xbox hasn’t given a presentation like this yet is because, as Grubb said, the deal to acquire Bethesda hasn’t been formally closed yet. While the announcement of the intention to acquire the publisher was made last year, the deal will not close in a few weeks. As such, Microsoft has had to remain somewhat quiet about what it is up to with Bethesda and its studios or it would be breaking the law.
While we still don’t know exactly what Xbox plans to do with Bethesda, one of the biggest questions many fans have asked about how exclusives work. Previously announced games such as Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 which were thought to be coming to all platforms (including PlayStation) in the future, can now only be linked to Xbox and PC. The Xbox team has not provided details on how it will handle exclusives in the future, other than that each game is handled on a case-by-case basis. This upcoming event could perhaps shed more light on the situation for the future.
Obviously, if we hear about this showcase, it should be relatively soon. As such, we’ll be sure to update you here at ComicBook.com if anything is officially announced.
So what would you like to hear at a potentially Bethesda-dedicated Xbox event? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter at @ Jeroen1988