Bethesda Softworks' first new IP in decades, Starfield, was always meant to be exclusive to the Xbox Series S/X (and the PC) as soon as it comes out. The same thing goes for the next The Elder Scrolls game, or, at the very least, that's what all the reports are saying. According to Microsoft, at least three Bethesda titles are going to be exclusive to the Xbox Series S/X, which leaves a third one to be the mystery title.
Microsoft's lawyers gave us a glimpse of Bethesda's release pipeline in a recent document as part of its response to the lawsuit filed by the FTC to stop the Activision Blizzard deal.
The document blacks out the names of the upcoming titles, saying that these are games to be played "primarily alone or in small groups." If this doesn't say Starfield and/or The Elder Scrolls 6, we don't know what does.
What's interesting here is the third title. We're aware Starfield is coming out next year and The Elder Scrolls 6 should be out by 2024 if not 2025. This leaves the third title to be a big question mark. We know Redfall isn't part of this trio as the incoming Arkane Studios game, which reports say has been delayed again, is primarily a co-op title. It could either be the Indiana Jones game or Fallout 5 but neither is expected to be out anytime soon.
Of course, the three games developer and/or published by Bethesda might not be public knowledge yet. Starfield's Xbox exclusivity is public information. Bethesda has since issued an apology for the game's exclusivity.
If we assume that it doesn't include Starfield, the trio could be Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls 6, and the Indiana Jones game by MachineGames. However, if we're sticking to games made by Bethesda, the list is still short one more game, and your guess is as good as ours.
Regardless, we wouldn't have come across this info had Microsoft not decided to scoop up Activision Blizzard for $70 billion earlier this year. It will have been a year since this historical purchase took place and things have yet to conclude. Microsoft continues to insist that Call of Duty will show up on PlayStation platforms for at least the next ten years (as well as on Nintendo systems) but regulators aren't quite convinced yet.
