Bethesda Executive "Confused" By Microsoft's Willingness To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation

Bethesda executive Pete Hines seemed frustrated by Xbox in an email sent to Todd Howard, Jamie Leder, and Todd Vaughn.

[lelo2play]

Guess Microsoft wasn't going to remove Call of Duty from Playstation platforms?

[Sunny12345]

You would have said same about Starfield if the roles of the companies involved were reversed. Though here we are.

[4Sh0w]

Easiest way is Phil should stop lying or stop trying to be nice to ps, be ruthless like Sony, end all doubt and just say everything we own & buy is exclusive to Xbox & pc.

It's only because of his weakness that people even question..and they should of crushed the FTC who keeps act as Sonys henchman with question about hurting Sony over 116 times, barely noting consumers only 11 times or so. *If their logic were true the same can be said for Sony & finally FTC will lose one way or other because clearly if by chance the entire ABK deal remains blocked Kotick is going to sell-off individual IPs to Microsoft, just watch. Sony cutting Microsoft deals to take games off Xbox didnt sit well and I think some execs, not Phil but others want to take tge kid gloves off.

[Crows90]

@4show

Yeah they should be ruthless like Sony at making new IP and quality exclusives...I guess you just have to settle for makeshift exclusives where you're taking them from other gamers.

[4Sh0w]

Microsoft has acquired alot of great studios just since 2017, they now own franchises like Forza Horizon, Doom, Deathloop, GhostWire Tokyo, Dishonored, Wasteland, Psychonauts, State of Decay, Outerworlds, Evil Within, Woflenstein, Hellblade, HiFi Rush, Skyrim, Fallout to name a few and......Starfield incoming!

It takes time, been much slower than I like but between those studios and their existing studios things will eventually pick up momentum= more games.

That's plenty ruthless enough to get quality exclusives like Sony for me.
https://www.gamesradar.com/...

I dont care HOW they are making the future for the Xbox I purchased look very, very good...unless, I mean there's some rule they and Sony broke when Sony acquired Haven, Insomniac, Bungie, Housemarque, Bluepoint, etc, etc in the same time period since 2017.
https://gameworldobserver.c...

Also If you go further back despite what sonyn4g folks say Sony entire history is filled with *buying studios, sure they've built/created some from the ground up as has Microsoft but both have bought their fare share to increase their portfolio, *hint join= brought, not created. Microsoft just buys bigger, no shiii they got more money but if you're worried neither is going anywhere, Sony has tons of studios and games people want to play, Activision would *hurt but any dooms day predictions are ridiculous, same crap I been hearing for both for about 25yrs.

[Sephiroushin]

@4Sh0w
did MS worked with those developers and created a few games funded by MS and developed in conjunction with ms before they bought those studios ? ... Thats the big difference ...

[4Sh0w]

Sephiroushin

That's not a difference, that's a convenience excuse to act like one is a Saint & one is the Devil for doing the same thing because what else can you say. Nobody outside of sonyn4g believes it. In fact to answer your question Microsoft did fund a couple games for example Playground, plus they had a great relationship with many of them with content deals & of course because of pc crossover/windows, etc.

Again does it really matter, they bought those studios to grow their portfolio to compete against Sony. lol, you can pretend all those studios Sony brought cut deals for free & love but lol, you might as well point at a theif while you pick my pocket= Literally one of Sonys best studios right now -Insomniac had just recently released a Xbox exclusive before Sony said f-dat and cut them a check=To prevent them from making anymore Xbox games AND most importantly to make exclusive games for ps. You can tell me their boring love affair all day but it was a check that made that deal. End of Story. I mean the internet is your friend, clearly Sony goes around moneyhatting games & using their influence especially in the Japanese market to secure exclusives...thats their right, its business but STOP CRYING when Microsoft does it.

Sony fans are just salty Sony wasn't able to buy the bigger studios Microsoft actually bought first and we all know it. If anything Microsoft needs to stay aggressive and buy more studios because I play games not love stories. That said I want them to be aggressive but not to the point of ruining Sony or anything just on par, Activision deal would by no means ruin Sony, just make the competion a bit closer and that's fine with me.

[Seraphim]

@4Show - Publisher, Developer, two very, very different things. You simply can not compare the two. It's one thing to buy a developer which consists of a single studio, it's another to buy the publisher who holds dozens of studios. MS could have easily sought partnerships with studios, built working relationships, helped launch studios, created studios, etc. They chose to do nothing for two decades, and now that they're in a position of ultimate weakness because they didn't have a strategy, they somehow deserve to consolidate the industry. gtfo. MS is in this position of utter weakness do to incompetence, or, at the very least, their lack of interest to invest in the software that drives these consoles.

The simple fact is that if MS would have actually invested into creating software the past twenty+ years they'd be in a much stronger position than they are in. They'd have a lot of us buying their console and enjoying their games alongside our PS/Nintendo/PC or whatever combination of that gamers own. For many of us, we've been there, and MS consoles simply have not provided the content to warrant purchasing their console as a complimentary console. This is really all most gamers wanted. For MS to invest and build a library of games, and IPs that compels us to buy and be satisfied with spending X$ on their console. This would also put their install base higher which becomes more attractive for developers. Instead we get the typical US company solution, we don't like competition, we can't beat them in name alone so let's go out and buy up everything we can. And before the PS buys exclusives bs. Yeah, MS did too, and they certainly have the money to continue doing so, but they opted not to. MS has literally sat around doing nothing for twenty years, and especially the past gen and a half not including current gen. Even most of their famous IPs came from outside MS owned studios.

[1Victor]

@seraphiroushin:” Publisher, Developer, two very, very different things.“
You’re just wasting your time he just think apple and oranges are the same because he can buy their juices in similar containers 🤷🏿 and he call orange soda orange juice

[Prime157]

@4sh0w is deluded to think a monopoly is a good thing lol

This isn't buying a studio - it's buying a top 3 competitor.

A monopoly will not help your games. Stop being foolish.

[4Sh0w]

"They chose to do nothing for two decades, and now that they're in a position of ultimate weakness"

Wth are you talking about? Nothing for 20yrs? You mean I imagined every single Xbox exclusive over the last 20yrs? Xbox has a couple bad years does not=20. Just like I remember the whole "ps has no games" when ps had a dry year or two for ps3, ps4 at times, internets your friend you can find those articles too lol, short memories are convenient though and you ps guys talk about delusional?

"Weakness"?
Yeah Microsoft is so weak but you guys are shaking in your boots over this Activision deal, sounds like Microsoft is anything but weak. In fact their in court right now because Jim Ryan's begging for mercy.

[Notellin]

Nobody would have been saying anything besides PS fanboys on N4G. You guys live in a fantasy world.

[RpgSama]

At 100% the revenue on a 10 year deal that might or might not get renewed down the line and needing a live account. Not exactly good guy Phil.

[RauLeCreuset]

That's not what that means. Hines was upset at the inconsistent public stance and lack of communication. He was concerned Todd Howard was going to get blindsided with questions about why Xbox was saying at the time that Activision games would be multi platform but not Bethesda games.

The bigger takeaway was this:

"If what Hines states is true, The Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox and PC exclusive. While not particularly surprising, this does seem to go against Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer's testimony last week, in which he stated the company had yet to decide if The Elder Scrolls 6 would be available on PlayStation."

[S2Killinit]

Yeah MS is playing a game and they think everyone is gullible. Like we don’t know that these guys are all in on the same scheme.

[dubal-e]

How dare you speak those facts. They shall drown you out with down votes for that. 😆 🤣

[Obscure_Observer]

"Guess Microsoft wasn't going to remove Call of Duty from Playstation platforms?"

Of course not. Even Jim Lyan knows that as we saw in his bombastic Emailgate.

[Magic_Spatula]

Because it has sold more on PlayStation last gen and current gen and Microsoft doesn't want to lose those customers/money.

[tay8701]

@4show. Lol bots trying to compare sonys purchases with xboxs. Tell me what games have sony locked xbox consumers out of with the purchases of haven, bungie, bluepoint and housemarque, and firewalk? Housemarque and bluepoint made games exclusively for playstation before being aquired. Haven and firewalk have never even made a game. Bungie is still making all their games on xbox. Care to compare that with the scummy tactics from MS, all the while trying to play the "good guy" role. Lmao you csnt make this crap up. There will be a lot of crying when Sony finally does make their moves and lock bots out of games.

[lelo2play]

* Facepalm *

[1Victor]

@lelo:”Guess Microsoft wasn't going to remove Call of Duty from Playstation platforms?”
Sure and I’m the flash with a amazing deal for you I got a bridge for a low price to sale you between Manhattan and Brooklyn that will make you a billion in a decade with the toll charges.

[Fist4achin]

It would be too many sales to pass up. MS is a business that likes to make money. You can buy MS software on apple products.

[crazyCoconuts]

MS software on Mac only went there after customers started going away from. Office because alternatives were cropping up. It was a defensive move because they were losing their grip on OS and Office and didn't want to lose both.

[VenomUK]

I interpreted it to mean that Pete Hines was frustrated that Bethesda games will no longer be on PlayStation whilst Call of Duty and Activision games would be. The Xbox blog post said that taking Activision games would be “undermining opportunities for Sony PlayStation users.”

After Bethesda was told to make its titles exclusive Pete Hines asked “why is the below is ok for COD or any Activision Blizzard games, but not TES6 or Starfield?” Meaning taking Starfield and TESVI from PlayStation users would also be undermining opportunities to them. When Pete Hines indirectly told the PlayStation community that he was sorry Starfield wouldn’t be coming to them I believe he was being 100% genuine.

IGN: Bethesda Apologises for Starfield Xbox Exclusivity: Can Be 'Frustrating' For PlayStation Owners
https://www.ign.com/article...

[shinoff2183]

Damn venom good point and here I trashed him. Maybe Pete was being genuine

[Omnisonne]

There are more ways to make money though.
Or rather, starving the other party from making money = more opportunity for you down the line.

[Flawlessmic]

Wonder how Phil will take that email seeing as there basically shots at him.

Hines does have a point even though at the end of the day Ms own them and it's there perogative to tell them what to do.

[S2Killinit]

This is just for public consumption. They are playing theater.

[Profchaos]

I'd flip it around Hines probably feels they are losing fans by going exclusive and given the open nature and reachability of their games it's a massive change from Bethesda history

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

They can make it exclusive in 10 years instead…. Either way, the ABK purchase would be THE largest *media* acquisition EVEr.

[S2Killinit]

These guys at MS are all playing a circus on the public. They think they are clever. Like people don't know that they are all part of the same shit show.

[GhostScholar]

After the way Sony has acted and lied about this acquisition I wouldn’t put anything on PlayStation. I would say the same if the roles were reversed and Microsoft had lied like Jim Ryan has. It’s ridiculous.

[shinoff2183]

What did Sony lie about. About how cod loss would hurt ps. Not a lie. About Jim Ryan saying ps would be alright. That dates from what I seen Jan 2022 , it was told later ms was looking for 100 percent profit. So did Ryan lie by saying ps would be alright without knowing ms wanted all the proceeds. If that's lying then it seems acceptable.

[ChasterMies]

From a Bethesda developer’s point of view, they are asking why they have to lock their titles to Xbox and lose 2/3 mindshare of the home console market if Call of Duty could remain multi-platform. (If I worked at Bethesda, I’d ask about Mojang and Minecraft. The series is a money maker on all platforms and got my kid to make a Microsoft account.) But the reality is that some Bethesda titles did remain multi-platform because they were subject to existing deals with Sony. And some Activision/Blizzard titles are also subject to existing deals. It’s not personal. It’s just business.

[4Sh0w]

Huh? By rule sales or mindshare on 1 platform will be lower than if it were on 2, 3. It doesnt matter though, thats the publisher or owners problem because Bethesda employees get paid an annual salary for their work, Microsoft is already cutting that check, so I dont see your point.

Pete Hines is complaining because him & Todd were apparently unaware if they bought Activision the deal would be different from their own, #1 that might indicate a very different financials for Bethesda per employee vs Activision #2 they should know because they will be questioned about the difference. #3 mhe actually sounds upset because he thinks Microsoft actually should NOT promise that Activision games will stay on ps. I agree.

[CrimsonWing69]

Yea it doesn’t make sense, but I’m over this bull sh*t.

[isarai]

He's lying, not that hard to grasp

[talocaca]

They can be as confused as they want. Sadly Microsoft is their new owner and decides the destiny of all their titles 🤷‍♂️

[UltimateOwnage]

Microsoft is just playing a game. They want to bait and switch to just enough of a degree their attorneys can make a good case, then they’ll steadily reverse stance. Expect the same on disk based games going forward, and DRM.

[Andrew336]

Call of duty is a yearly release, while Bethesda is like 5 years per game. What is confusing about keeping COD on Playstation to make the millions every year?

[aaronaton]

As a PlayStation fanboy, i'm more than happy for COD to be an Xbox exclusive game. The game has been on the decline for years now regardless of its huge and devote fanbase.

[4Sh0w]

Cool story BUT Sony certainly cares because unlike you they don't have the freedom of being "happy" the biggest IP hands down in gaming going exclusive to their competitor...they have business to run.

btw, I've heard for at least the last 10 yrs CoD is in decline, maybe so but still easily the biggest seller on both platforms EVERY YEAR. I know, I know next year the Browns will finally win the Super Bowl too.

[Minute Man 721]

The Browns just might...they have a nice defense, just have to be better at stopping the run

[4Sh0w]

lol, if I had a nickel everytime a Browns fan said......

In other news, you're cool Minute Man but it's Da 9ers year!

[Minute Man 721]

WOW....some people buy Playstations just to play COD. It sells consoles

[Deathdeliverer]

What the Bethesda heads don’t get is Microsoft says anything to get past the FTC and any other watchdogs. They will make a deal and bring COD to PlayStation for a set period, then it’ll be treated the same way as the Bethesda games. Stop all production of PlayStation titles. To me, this is the biggest revelation. Bethesda WANTS their games on PlayStation. To hear someone else can do it but they had to stop everything instantly mid dev cycle would piss off anyone.

Microsoft representatives stating that the company is "committed to Sony" and "will make them [Call of Duty and other popular Activision games] available on PlayStation" in 2022 blog post. He then asked, "Is the below not the opposite of what we were just asked (told) to do with our own titles? What's the difference?"

The difference is your company was bought with zero stipulation. No fuss. It was out the blue. It did make people start paying attention though. A whole publisher being bought? Not cool, but ok. A second with the biggest FPS series ever? Gotta fight for this one.

It’s refreshing to see Bethesda pushed back, really shows where their heads are on making games available for everyone, especially on the #1 selling console.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

They were confused because weren't they planning to make COD exclusive to playstation?

[gold_drake]

throw them all in a pit and light them on fire for all i care.
this whole thing is pathetic and disgusting.

[Fluke_Skywalker]

I'm confused as to why he's confused. They make more mkney from selling software than hardware so why limit your customer base to approximately half of what it currently is?
There's not a snowman's chance in hell they would sell enough extra Xbox's off the back of COD to make up for the loss of sales on PlayStation.

[HyperMoused]

CoD is the fast food of gaming, too much money to be lost by making it exclusive

[PhillyDonJawn]

If anything MS better off making CoD exclusive and Starfield /TES6 Multi. Seem like backward logic to me unless Phil looking at market conditions to decide. (Like if theyre in a drought, it'll be exclusive but if they have other exclusive at the time it's multiplat)

[dmonee]

What a mess….. Gamers are the ones that are going to get screwed in the end

[__SteakDeck__]

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, only executives and shareholders benefit. Fanboys benefit in the short term, but long term gamers will suffer.

[Juancho51]

Microsoft has no talent, all they do Is try to pay people to let them slap their log on their hard work.

[zarbor]

Gotta say its not that difficult to understand unless you have an axe to grind. Clearly Hines has one. COD makes tons of money on both consoles so it would be dumb business-wise for MS to make it exclusive to XBOX. Unlike Starfield which is not a proven IP, there is no way to know if it would make that same kinda money on PS. I'm sure Hines want it on PS since it would mean possible more money for the IP. Clearly Phil sees a greater benefit to the XBOX platform in making it exclusive. I actually agree with Phil on this rare occassion since I disagree with a ton of what he has done.

Elder Scroll is no different. That IP makes good money on PS so they will have to see how the growth of the XBOX platform in particular GamePass does with exclusives until its time for Elder Scroll to be discussed as multiplat or exclusive. As a bean-counter for a living, I tell folks if you want to know the truth with big companies....follow the money.

[crxss]

it's called: "slowly remove content from the PS version until it's just a shell of the superior Xbox version" strategy

[neomahi]

Yup, that'll do it. People don't like not being treated fairly and they riots start over being inconsistent. Really does sound to me like Bathesda really would like to reach a bigger audience with Starfield, and if Activision can do it with Call of Duty, when they're not even part of Xbox, why can't Bathesda.

Ultimately, it's Microsoft's money so Microsoft gets to call the shots but, seems to me like either 1) Bathesda really doesn't like Sony and wants to see the absence of Call of Duty cause a major ripple or 2) they really do want Starfield on other options to share their vision with as many gamers as possible

[Abear21]

Bethesda saying, “It ain’t our fault” wonder what the release date would have been if they had to finish a PS5 and PS4 version too? Might not have released this Gen lol. COD releases every year.

[NextGenCeo]

Microsoft will be out willingly from console market soon. They will go Cloud gaming and be come Biggest Publisher for every gaming platform on the world. Especially PC.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

it's difficult to support ms because they haven't done anything to deserve or warrant any success lol while all of sony's exclusives may not be genre-defining system-sellers, they have a reputation of having some of the best exclusives in the industry, and in history. why would you ever want to support ms that has only proven incompetence over the past decade? ms has so much potential with halo and gears, and yet they go out and spend billions of dollars just to buy a company to take it away from their competitors lol

just imagine if ms invested those billions into their own studios and ip's. phil's a joke and needs to be replaced asaf.

[D0nkeyBoi]

Microsoft is so awful at the business of gaming, that instead of making their own games, they pay to have multiplatforms be exclusive to only their platforms. I have no clue why MS fans celebrate this, seeing how those games would've ended up on XBOX anyway, but are now not allowed on PS. Weird flex.