Microsoft owns Bethesda, but Sony called dibs on Deathloop.
Deathloop is the big new game from Arkane Lyon, one of the studios within Bethesda, but the Xbox release date for the game is still quite a way off, despite the fact that PS5 owners and PC players will be able to play the game from 14th September 2021.
Since Bethesda became part of Microsoft recently, you might be wondering why Deathloop isn’t launching on Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One. Those are Microsoft-produced consoles, after all, so what gives?
It’s almost certain that this will be the last time a Bethesda game launches on PlayStation but not Xbox. In future, the opposite might even be true, with lots of fans wondering – since the Xbox acquisition of Bethesda – whether Microsoft will put future Bethesda titles exclusively on its own platforms.
This is an interesting point in console history, then, when we have a Microsoft-owned game launching on a Sony-owned platform instead of the Xbox. So why has this happened, and when will the Deathloop Xbox release date finally roll around? Keep on reading for the answers to those questions!
Why isn’t Deathloop launching on Xbox?
When Deathloop was first revealed at the E3 conference in June 2019 (long before Microsoft bought Bethesda), plans were announced for the game to launch on PC and PS5, with the PS5 release being a ‘timed console exclusive’. The intention was clear – the game will launch first on Sony’s PlayStation 5 before coming to any other consoles.
More than a year later, in September 2020, Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Bethesda and all the companies within it (including Arkane Lyon, the team behind Deathloop). Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox at Microsoft, told Bloomberg that he plans to honour the pre-existing agreement between Bethesda and Sony over Deathloop’s launch.
That’s the long and short of it, basically – we ended up with a Microsoft game launching exclusively on a Sony console because of a deal between Bethesda and Sony, which predated Bethesda being bought by Microsoft. Simples!
When is the Deathloop Xbox release date?
The Deathloop Xbox release date is expected to fall after 14th September 2022. That’s one year on from the game’s launch on PS5 and PC. We know the game can’t come to Xbox consoles before this, thanks to a line in the Deathloop launch trailer that reads like so: “Not available on other consoles until at least 09/14/22.” You can see that disclaimer for yourself at 2 minutes 49 seconds in the video below:
It sounds like the pre-existing agreement between Sony and Bethesda stipulated that a full year would have to pass before the game could launch on any other consoles. Bearing that in mind, we’d bet that Microsoft execs will be very keen to get the game on Xbox Series X/S in the middle of September next year! Until then, Xbox-owners will have to wait their turn, unless they fancy buying a PS5 or a PC.
Will Deathloop come to PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch?
Deathloop is launching on PS5, and an Xbox Series X/S release will surely follow in a year’s time, but what about the previous generation of consoles? Will the game ever come to PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch? What about the Nintendo Switch OLED? For now, no such plans have been announced, with Bethesda reiterating time and again that Deathloop is seen as a next-gen title.
Deathloop’s game director Dinga Bakaba even told PLAY Magazine (via GamesRadar), “I don’t think that we would have been able to preserve the level of ambition of this game were it not for the move to next-gen.” So we wouldn’t count on a previous-generation release happening any time soon.
Will Deathloop come to Xbox Game Pass?
Most of Microsoft’s first-party games launch on Xbox Game Pass, so will Deathloop come to that trusty subscription service? It has not yet been confirmed whether or not Deathloop will come to Xbox Game Pass when it is allowed to launch on Xbox consoles, but let’s put it this way… we’d be very surprised if it didn’t come to the service eventually.
Deathloop’s game direct Dinga Bakaba recently showed some love for Xbox Game Pass, speaking to Press Start after the company’s previous games came to the service.
Bakaba said: “Being able to be apart of the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem makes things a bit different for us, because we can occupy a space in that service, and we will continue to make the kind of games that we make and make them well.
“If you’ve looked on social media, you’ll see that games like Prey and Dishonored 1 and 2 coming to Xbox Game Pass, a lot of people are saying that you need to play these games and have no excuse not to, so it’s been very encouraging.
“It’s a service that will allow us to remain creative and have the audience and build that relationship over time and that’s really exciting.” That quote only makes it seem more likely that Deathloop will come to Xbox Game Pass at some point. Watch this space!
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