As part of the ongoing trial between the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft, an internal email sent by Bethesda senior vice president of global marketing and communications Pete Hines expressing frustration regarding Xbox’s inconsistent exclusivity policies has surfaced. According to the document, the email was sent to three of his Bethesda colleagues–Tood Howard, Jamie Leder, and Todd Vaughn–in February 2022.
First shared by Axios reporter Stephen Totilo via Twitter, the email begins with Hines stating he was “confused” by 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?”
After sharing an excerpt of the Xbox blog post mentioned, Hines added:
“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?”
In addition to Hines’ grievances regarding Bethesda being “told” what to do with its titles, the email also holds another compelling bit of information: 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.
In addition to Hines’ email, several other pieces of information regarding Microsoft’s business and strategies have been revealed throughout the trial. This includes a 2019 proposal to “spend Sony out of business,” Xbox stating Starfield was planned for PS5 prior to Microsoft acquiring ZeniMax, and Microsoft claiming to have “lost the console war.” In addition, internal documents might have revealed Destiny 2 developer Bungie’s next IP, Matter.
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