Bethesda exec 'confused' by Microsoft's commitment to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

A Bethesda executive expressed confusion over Xbox’s plan to keep Call of Duty on other platforms despite planning to acquire Activision.

The Microsoft vs FTC trial is still ongoing, grinding the Activision Blizzard deal to a standstill. The FTC believes the acquisition would be harmful to competition and part of Xbox’s efforts to drive PlayStation out of business by buying several studios and making future games exclusive to Xbox consoles.

Speaking of Bethesda, the launch of Starfield is just around the corner.

Xbox has repeatedly stated it has no plans to make major franchises like Call of Duty exclusive to its platform once the deal goes through, which reportedly confused and frustrated an executive at Bethesda, Pete Hines. Hines is the vice president of the company, and expressed his frustration through an internal email sent last year to three colleagues: Todd Howard, Jamie Leder, and Todd Vaughn.

The email read: “Did anyone at Xbox think about giving us a heads-up on this? Todd's going to DICE in a couple weeks, you don't think a journo might find him and press him on why the below is ok for COD or any Activision Blizzard games, but not for TES6 [The Elder Scrolls 6] or Starfield?"

Xbox acquired Bethesda in 2021, supposedly to prevent the highly-anticipated RPG Starfield from being a PlayStation exclusive. Starfield will be launching later this year exclusively for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Interestingly, the email implies The Elder Scrolls VI will also be an Xbox exclusive. Sony has repeatedly claimed this to be the case which has never been outright confirmed by Xbox. The head of Xbox Phil Spencer has stated the company is currently considering whether or not Elder Scrolls VI will be making its way onto the PlayStation 5.

The email seems to be near conclusive evidence that the game was always intended to be exclusive for the console. It’s still unclear how Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will play out, as the deal is also facing pushback from the UK's CMA, which has blocked it for 10 years. Apparently, both parties are considering all options to see the deal go through, including removing Activision Blizzard games from the UK market.

In other news, Xbox is currently being slammed for raising the price of Xbox Series X consoles to match the price of the PlayStation 5. It’s also being criticised for raising the price of Xbox Game Pass.