Starfield is definitely not coming to PS5 — but Xbox Series X exclusives are easier than ever to access

(Image credit: Bethesda)

Update: A new teaser trailer for Starfield suggest information technology'll exist a cantankerous of Skyrim meets The Area .

Bethesda has been forced to remove all ambiguity later on overly optimistic gamers one time again got their hopes up nigh Starfield coming to PS5. It's not: it's very much an Xbox and PC exclusive.

E'er since Microsoft purchased Bethesda for $7.5 billion back in September 2020 — two months before the PS5 went on sale — the idea of future games appearing on Sony consoles has looked slim, barring a handful where work was too far forth to cancel. Starfield, due November 11, 2022, definitely does not fit into that category then it should be a surprise to nobody that information technology won't be on PS5.

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All the same, Bethesda's Pete Hines sensibly refused to deal in absolutes. "I don't know if I would go so far as to say you're washed always playing stuff on PlayStation, just again, I don't know the respond to that right now," he was quoted as saying.

As hype began to rise again that maybe Microsoft was just bluffing, or that this was merely a timed exclusive, the visitor was forced to step in and throw cold water on the idea.

"Starfield will be launching exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC on November 11, 2022," Aaron Greenberg, general manager of Xbox games marketing, replied to one such optimistic tweet. "Game Pass members tin play it day one as well on Xbox & PC. I know we have said this all before and none of that has or volition alter."

Afterward somebody pointed out that, again, this isn't as unambiguous as it could be given "launching exclusively" isn't the aforementioned thing as "will never be anywhere else," Greenberg was clearer still: "We have tried to exist equally articulate as possible, non a timed exclusive, this is just where the game is being made."

Nosotros have tried to be as clear every bit possible, not a timed sectional, this is simply where the game is being made. 💚August xxx, 2021

Never a amend fourth dimension for Xbox exclusives

Again, nobody should be surprised by this evolution. You don't spend $7.5 billion on a games developer and and then fail to leverage your reward over your competitors. And with the purchase announced months earlier the PS5 went on sale, Sony gamers can't say they weren't warned. The selection was always simple: switch to Xbox, buy both consoles, build a gaming PC or go without Bethesda games.

But while nobody would claim that console exclusives are a good thing as such, Microsoft has at least made its exclusive titles easier to access than ever. The Xbox Series Due south, as I've written before, makes for an ideal secondary machine for PS5 owners to scoop up the exclusives they've missed, and with an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you don't even have to worry well-nigh the extra cost of the games either. Only buy a $299 Xbox Series Southward, accept out a Game Pass trial, and rattle through Starfield without paying an extra $60 for the game itself. Information technology's a competitive offering.

And while Microsoft was careful not to mention streaming as an selection for Starfield at launch, information technology'south pretty clear that the ability to play Xbox games without dedicated hardware is the company'south ultimate goal. Xbox Cloud Gaming has matured immensely over its short life, and if it continues to do so, it may well exist a tempting selection for gamers who don't want to stump upward for new hardware when Fallout 5 or The Elderberry Scrolls half-dozen rolls around.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are plant all over the web and in the occasional magazine besides. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, yous'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.