Bethesda Is ‘Sorry’ That Starfield Is An Xbox Exclusive - But Not Really

Starfield’s newest trailer’s launch at E3 2021 was an expected turn, but still, one that excited fans regardless. The game that looks to basically be Fallout in space has made waves among Bethesda fans, and has caused a lot of upset in the reveal that the game would be exclusive to Xbox entirely.

It was expected, to be fair - after the Bethesda and Xbox merger, many fans of both companies expected a lot of Bethesda titles to be made exclusive to the Xbox consoles. Yet, it’s still upset some fans of the game studio’s outpourings. And now, a representative of Bethesda has come forward to address the upset.

Bethesda’s Pete Hines Apologises To Upset Fans

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Earlier this week, Bethesda’s senior vice president of global marketing & communications Pete Hines spoke with GameSpot about the reaction to Starfield’s console exclusivity. “I totally understand if you are unhappy or pissed or whatever. I get it, those are all real feelings and frustrations. [...] I’m a PlayStation 5 player as well, and I’ve played games on that console, and there’s games I’m going to play on it. But if you want to play Starfield - PC and Xbox. Sorry. All I can really say is, I apologise.”

Hines seems to acknowledge the sum of people upset by the exclusivity deal, and apologises to those it has affected. But as it turns out, other members of the Microsoft and Bethesda teams might not be so remorseful.

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg ‘Not Sorry’ For Starfield Exclusivity

In response to this apology, both Hines and Microsoft Studios’ general manager Aaron Greenberg took to Twitter Spaces to field questions from viewers and discuss the merger further in the wake of E3. “I’m not looking at Twitter today. Sorry, Twitter! Everybody just decided to freak out yesterday because I said ‘I’m sorry’ to somebody who was upset”, says Hines about 48 mins into the conversation.

Greenberg reassures him, and suggests he feels an entirely different way. “It’s all good. I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry!”, he says afterwards.

It looks like the drama of the exclusivity deal has shaken some opinions across Bethesda and Xbox, but it’s safe to say it’s not really a point of contention. This exclusivity was a given from the moment pen touched paper in the merger process, and it’s been going on for so long now, it’s easy to imagine that the developers of the Bethesda titles that will go exclusively to Xbox are at peace with the transition. Still, it might not quell the rage of PS5 Bethesda fans.