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

Behind the scenes: Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda was arguably Xbox’s most significant move to date. Until the merger, Bethesda games were largely platform independent. In fact, the 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 fanbase is concerned that they will never see another title 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 see another Bethesda game again, Hines showed no commitment and said: Answer. There is no such thing. It’s not like I know, and I just don’t want to tell you. I do not know.

“If you can start to conceptualize in the future where the cloud can go, you start not caring which platform. – Pete Hines from Bethesda.

Greenberg was even more evasive, saying, “I want to be careful. I know this is an issue that worries people a lot. This is also a difficult question for us to answer because, frankly, it can be great on the internet. “

While none of the answers were enough to say 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 Xbox exclusivity, noted that there are still Bethesda games on Sony’s competing consoles.

“There are Xbox brands that exist on other platforms, first and foremost. I think it is important to keep this in mind. Minecraft did not cease to exist at all once Xbox bought Mojang, ”Hines said. “It’s a game that is overwhelmingly played on all these other platforms. It’s not a ‘Sorry, you’ll never be able to play any Bethesda again.’ Certainly, there will be things that you will not 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. In fact, 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 continued, explaining how game streaming is changing the way we think about platforms. Xbox’s vision is to deliver games to almost any device as long as it has a controller. The company will continue to produce consoles, but the focus is on Xbox Game Pass and game streaming.

“If you can start to conceptualize in the future where the cloud can go, you start not caring which platform. It just says, “I’m an Xbox Game Pass cloud item, and you can cast me to something if” I have a controller, “Hines said.” The general idea is an Xbox or PlayStation thing; I’m not saying it’s gone, but it’s too from the 1990s, 2000s. It’s a new era of gaming. [today] be everywhere. “

So the good news for PlayStation fans is that whether Starfield, TESVI, or whatever is coming to a shiny new PS5, 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.