Xbox & Bethesda Promise News “This Summer;” Talk Exclusivity & More; 20 Games Coming to Game Pass

Today Microsoft hosted a roundtable livestream about the acquisition of Bethesda.

The finalization of the deal has been announced yesterday and today we get more details from head of Xbox Phil Spencer, Xbox head of games marketing Aaron Greenberg, head of Xbox marketing Sarah Bond, and head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty on the Microsoft Side

On the Bethesda side, we hear from executive producer Todd Howard, head of marketing Pete Hines, SVP of development Todd Vaughn, and VP of communications Erin Losi.

• Todd Howard mentions that the deal is “surreal.” Bethesda had a lot of chapters and many of them have been done alongside Xbox. Howard himself has always been calling Phil Spencer to “bounce things off of” even before the acquisition. His advice was also useful to improve things for Fallout 76.
• Spencer talked about exclusivity. While he can’t promise that every Bethesda game is

“Obviously I can’t say here and now “Every Bethesda game is exclusive.” We know that’s not true. There are contractual obligations that we’re going to see through. We always do in every one of these instances.

We have games that exist on other platforms. We’re going to support those games on the platforms they’re on. We love those communities and we’ll continue to invest in them.

Even in the future, there will be things that have either contractual things on different platforms.

But for Xbox customers, the thing I want you to know is that this is about delivering great exclusive games for you that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists.

That’s our goal. That’s why we’re doing this. That’s the root of this partnership that we’re building and the creative capability we’ll be able to bring to market for Xbox customers, and it’s going to be the best it’s ever been for Xbox after we’re done here.”

• from tomorrow on 20 games from Bethesda will be available on Game Pass. You can check them out at the bottom of the post.
• According to Howard, Game Pass really unlocks things that developers love to do on the creative side.
• One of the mottos of Bethesda is “Great Games are played, not made.” Howard believes that within this partnership the developer will be able to make the best games they can possibly make. Tapping everything Xbox provides will enable Bethesda to make better games.
• The team is working on enabling FPS Boost on Bethesda’s backward compatible games.
• Microsoft and Bethesda are deep in planning mode about upcoming announcements looking at the content that’s coming. Something will be showcased “this summer.”
• Booty pledged not to force Microsoft’s culture on Bethesda. He believes Microsoft can learn from Bethesda as much as the other way around.
• The deal will benefit all Xbox studios as they can form creative connections to help each other.

You can watch the whole video below, which also includes talks from relevant developers from many Bethesda studios.