Pete Hines says PlayStation owners can still play Bethesda games, as long as they already exist

In context: Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda was arguably the most significant move Xbox ever achieved. Until the merger, Bethesda games were largely platform independent. In fact, fan favorite The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is available on eight platforms, including PC, Nintendo Switch, and three generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Now that Xbox is in control of Bethesda, a significant portion of the studio’s fan base is worried that they’ll never see another title again on their platform of choice – the PlayStation. Last week at Gamescom, Bethesda’s Pete Hines and Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg spoke about the situation.

When asked if PS fans would ever see another Bethesda game, Hines showed no commitment, saying: Answer. There is no such thing. It’s not like I know it, and I just don’t want to tell you. I do not know.

“If you can start conceptualizing down the road where the cloud can go, it starts to not care which platform. – Pete Hines of Bethesda.

Greenberg was even more evasive, stating, “I want to be careful. I know this is a question people care about a lot. It is also a difficult question for us to answer because, frankly, it can get sensational. on the Internet.”

While neither answer was enough to tell if Bethesda would ever release another PlayStation title, some of their other answers were more revealing. Hines, who recently apologized to PlayStation 5 owners for the Xbox exclusivity, pointed out that there are still Bethesda games on competing Sony consoles.

“There are Xbox brands that exist on other platforms, first and foremost. I think it’s important to note that. Minecraft didn’t just cease to exist on anything once Mojang had it. been purchased by Xbox, ”Hines said. “It’s a game played heavily on all of these other platforms. It’s not a ‘Sorry, you will never be able to play anything from Bethesda again.’ Sure, there are going to be things that you won’t be able to play [on PlayStation]. “

The only image we have of The Elder Scrolls VI that we have so far.

Interestingly, Hines specifically redirects the topic to games that already exist on multiple platforms. So to the question of whether PS fans will be able to play Bethesda games on their PS5, the answer seems to be yes, as long as the game already exists as Minecraft or Skyrim. Indeed, the studio recently announced a Skyrim remaster for next-gen consoles, including the PlayStation 5. But clearly, that’s not what the direct question meant.

Hines and Greenberg went on to explain how game streaming is changing the way we think about platforms. Xbox’s vision is to deliver games on almost any device as long as you have a controller. The company will still produce consoles, but the focus is on Xbox Game Pass and game streaming.

“If you can start conceptualizing down the road where the cloud can go, it starts to not care which platform. It just says, ‘I’m an Xbox Game Pass cloud thing, and you can stream me on. something if you “I have a controller,” Hines said. “The general idea is either an Xbox thing or a PlayStation thing; I’m not saying it’s gone, but it’s a bit too much of the 1990s, 2000s. It’s a new era of the game [today] be everywhere. “

So the good news for PlayStation fans is that whether Starfield, TESVI, or whatever comes to a shiny new PS5 or not, they can still subscribe to Game Pass and play it on their other devices. Alternatively, gamers can just buy or build a decent gaming PC and not worry about it.