Phil Spencer apparently made a “big decision” to make all ZeniMax games Xbox exclusive in a November 2021 meeting. This reveal came to light as part of the final day of testimony in this week’s Microsoft FTC hearing.
During Xbox CFO Tim Stuart’s time on the witness stand, the FTC called attention to a chat conversation from November 2021 between Stuart and Xbox’s Matt Booty. The two were messaging about a recent monthly business review meeting between Xbox and ZeniMax, where Spencer apparently made the call to make all ZeniMax games exclusive going forward, not just new IP. Stuart was asking Booty about what happened during the meeting.
“All games going forward?” Stuart asked. “Not just new IP, but ALL games going forward? Wow.”
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Booty confirmed this during the chat conversation, writing, “Phil [Spencer] told them all titles going foward, Xbox exclusive.”
The two went on to discuss how pulling all Bethesda titles from PlayStation would cause profit issues in Microsoft and ZeniMax’s deal model. “We will have [accountability margin] issues in the deal model as we pull a huge number of PS units out of model,” Stuart noted.
This means Xbox and ZeniMax’s projected profits after the acquisition factored in releasing some Bethesda games on PlayStation, before this decision came down from Spencer.
When Spencer testified last week, this is the meeting the Xbox leader claimed he didn’t remember the specifics of. It’s possible we’ll get more information and clarity on this meeting during Microsoft’s cross-examination of Stuart, and we’ll update this story if that’s the case.
The Microsoft ZeniMax deal has been a huge point of reference for the FTC throughout the last week, as the agency attempts to invoke a preliminary injunction on Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The FTC has called Xbox’s decision to make Starfield and Redfall exclusives “powerful evidence” against the Activision Blizzard merger, while Sony’s Jim Ryan himself has said he doesn’t view Starfield’s exclusivity as anti-competitive.
Additional reporting by Rebekah Valentine.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.