Phil Spencer, de baas van Microsoft’s Xbox-afdeling, heeft opmerkelijke uitspraken gedaan tegenover Gamesradar.
Spencer zegt dat de overname van uitgever Bethesda voor een bedrag van 7.5 miljard dollar nog niet rond is, want het moet in de komende weken nog goedgekeurd worden. Eenmaal goedgekeurd, krijgt Microsoft de beschikking over meerdere studio’s en alle grote franchises van Bethesda.
Phil zegt dat Microsoft een echte shooter en RPG powehouse gaat worden na de overname. Microsoft beschikte al over shooters zoals Gears en Halo. Daar komen DOOM, Wolfenstein, Prey, Quake en Dishonered bij. Wat betreft RPG’s beschikt Microsoft al over Fable en The Outer Worlds. Daar komen The Elder Scrolls en Starfield bij. Spencer zegt dat hij zelf erg enthousiast is over Starfield.
“2021 is when we’ll get final approval, I feel really good about that,” Spencer said. “Everything is on track. We’ll start then really getting to some of the planning we can do with them. Right now we’re really hands-off with them as they continue to do the work that they’re doing, because we don’t own them yet.”
Spencer added that he’s especially excited about Starfield, as well as the many other projects – some announced, some not – that are underway at Bethesda. They’ll “be an incredible addition to our studios” once the deal closes and they all start working together as one company, Spencer added.
“When I think about our RPG capability with Obsidian, with inXile, with the work that Playground is doing which is now out there with Fable, obviously, and with what Bethesda can do, it’s massive capability. I think about our FPS capability with id and obviously 343 and the work we can do. It doubles the size of our first-party studios when Bethesda joins, which is pretty amazing to think about.”
