"Xbox's Phil Spencer Makes Bold Decision: All ZeniMax Games to be Exclusive in 2021"

During a November 2021 meeting, Xbox's Phil Spencer reportedly made the decision to make all ZeniMax games exclusive to Xbox, not just new IP, according to chat conversations revealed during the Microsoft FTC hearing. Xbox CFO Tim Stuart and Xbox's Matt Booty discussed the meeting, confirming that Spencer had instructed that all ZeniMax games going forward would be Xbox exclusives. This decision raised concerns about profit issues in the deal model, as it factored in releasing some Bethesda games on PlayStation. The FTC has cited this exclusivity decision as evidence against Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.