Some new developments suggest that a PS5 port of The Elder Scrolls 6 might not have been ruled out just yet, even though Bethesda's open-world RPG remains a prime candidate for Xbox exclusivity. The developer has been part of Xbox Game Studios since mid-2021, when Microsoft completed its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company.Back in December 2022, Microsoft told the Federal Trade Commission that three of Bethesda's upcoming games will be exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem, which includes its gaming consoles and PC. While the company did not elaborate on that statement, its subsidiary previously confirmed Starfield's status of an Xbox exclusive, leaving industry watchers to speculate that Redfall and The Elder Scrolls 6 are the other two.However, it would appear that a PS5 port of The Elder Scrolls 6 might still be on the cards, given how Bethesda already published one other Xbox exclusive in the meantime, the critically acclaimed rhythm-based action game Hi-Fi Rush from Japanese developer Tango Gameworks. Given that state of affairs, it is possible that at least one of Redfall or The Elder Scrolls 6 might eventually become available beyond the Xbox ecosystem. On the other hand, the fact that Hi-Fi Rush came out of nowhere at Bethesda's behest suggests Microsoft's December disclosure was only referring to some near-term releases from the studio and not those that are nowhere near going gold.
Since The Elder Scrolls 6 definitely falls in the latter category, it is plausible that its target platforms aren't yet set in stone. Though even if they were, Microsoft is extremely unlikely to officially pull any major franchise from PlayStation for the time being, not least because it is currently trying to convince regulators around the world not to oppose its pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard on antitrust grounds. The company, for its part, has been reiterating that all of its game exclusivity decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis since announcing its provisional consolidation agreement with the Call of Duty maker in early 2022.
While it remains to be seen whether the next Elder Scrolls game ends up on the PS5 or not, what's certain is that it won't be launching on any platform for many more years. Bethesda is expected to start full-scale development of its open-world RPG only after releasing Starfield in the second half of 2023, meaning there are literally dozens of highly anticipated games that will release before The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.