The new year is going to be a very big one for Xbox and Bethesda, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer is already marveling at what it means for the number of games his company will be able to make.
Spencer spoke about the pending Bethesda acquisition and what it means for Xbox in the latest Xbox podcast. While the deal was announced back in September, it won't actually close until some time this year, and the two companies will continue operating separately until then. Even so, Spencer sounds confident that there won't be any hiccups along the way.
"2021 is when we'll get final approval, I feel really good about that," Spencer said. "Everything is on track. We'll start then really getting to some of the planning we can do with them. Right now we're really hands-off with them as they continue to do the work that they're doing, because we don't own them yet."
Spencer added that he's especially excited about Starfield, as well as the many other projects - some announced, some not - that are underway at Bethesda. They'll "be an incredible addition to our studios" once the deal closes and they all start working together as one company, Spencer added.
"When I think about our RPG capability with Obsidian, with inXile, with the work that Playground is doing which is now out there with Fable, obviously, and with what Bethesda can do, it's massive capability. I think about our FPS capability with id and obviously 343 and the work we can do. It doubles the size of our first-party studios when Bethesda joins, which is pretty amazing to think about."
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