It seems as if this question keeps needing to be answered, but Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has finally all but confirmed that Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls 6 will indeed remain exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem, cutting its hopes for release on PlayStation or Nintendo Switch.

During an interview with British GQ, Spencer claimed that The Elder Scrolls 6 exclusivity will be similar to Bethesda's other long-awaited RPG, Starfield. Starfield was shown off earlier in the year and definitively stated to be coming only to Xbox consoles and PC. Spencer went on to explain that he believes that he genuinely does not want this to be about punishing other platforms, and that he sees all consoles continuing to grow and flourish in the coming years. He says, "...in order to be on Xbox, I want us to be able to bring the full complete package of what we have. And that would be true when I think about Elder Scrolls 6. That would be true when I think about any of our franchises.”

RELATED: Todd Howard Teases How Elder Scrolls 6 Will Improve on Skyrim

Todd Howard also made a comment about The Elder Scrolls 6, saying that the game is still deep in the trenches of development, and that the team's ultimate goal is the same as it has been since The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Howard says that as people change and technology changes, the vision to transport people to these engaging worlds and fully immerse the player stays the same. With The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda wants to keep the bones of The Elder Scrolls but expand on player immersion like the franchise never has before.

elder scrolls 6

Considering that Microsoft did indeed purchase Bethesda earlier this year, this should come as no surprise, especially with Xbox's earlier announcement of Starfield's exclusivity at E3. Still, it is likely that the millions of fans that have been holding out hope that The Elder Scrolls 6 might appear on a Sony or Nintendo platform, will be sorely disappointed and maybe a bit betrayed by Bethesda. However, the games industry is a business, and this is a perfect way to get Elder Scrolls fans into the Xbox ecosystem in some way. Whether it be through a traditional Xbox console, PC, or even Xbox Game Pass on mobile, Microsoft is doubling down on its mission to bring these franchises to gamers as best it can without outright selling the games on competing platforms.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is likely many years away, especially since Howard just recently revealed that making Starfield was a now-or-never prospect, so it will be some time before we see how The Elder Scrolls 6's exclusivity does for Microsoft and Xbox.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development with Bethesda.

MORE: Todd Howard's Reddit AMA: What You Need to Know

Source: British GQ