After an apology from Bethesda’s Pete Hines made the rounds for Starfield’s Xbox exclusivity, General Manager of Microsoft Studios Aaron Greenberg wasn’t so cordial. “I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry,” Greenberg said in a Twitter Spaces chat between himself and Hines. The response from the Microsoft executive is understandable, given the purchase of Bethesda by the company to strengthen its own brand.
Aaron Greenberg about Starfield not going to ps5:
« I’m not sorry » https://t.co/RBrAbRaWkw pic.twitter.com/ap3YAJSt6n— Astal (@astaranx) June 20, 2021
The comment comes in just after the 48-minute mark in the full chat (video below). Hines began talking about how he hadn’t looked at Twitter due to his apology going viral.
“Everybody just decided to freak out yesterday because I said ‘I’m sorry’ to somebody who was upset,” Hines said, in reference to his previous apology about Starfield now being an Xbox exclusive. “I decided maybe we all just take a break from each other except for this [Twitter Spaces chat].”
“It’s all good,” Greenberg replies. “I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry!” He laughs as he finishes the sentence. While it’s certainly said jokingly in conversation, it’s clear that Greenberg means it. After all, as the General Manager of Microsoft Studios, part of his job is to bolster the Microsoft brand, which Starfield (and other Bethesda titles) being an Xbox exclusive under the Microsoft umbrella certainly does. There’s no doubt that the acquisition and exclusivity of Bethesda and its franchises will bring more people into the the Xbox fold, whether that be via the console or as a Game Pass subscriber.
Hines and Greenberg’s differing approaches here plays like a bit of “good cop, bad cop” to a situation that is what it is. Hines’ own apology comes from a place of once being a third-party publisher, now under a first-party umbrella, more empathetic to people who may have once been excited for Starfield, but now can’t play it on the PlayStation platform. Still, Hines acknowledges the reality of the situation, which is that Bethesda is owned by Microsoft now. Greenberg, on the other hand, hasn’t ever been afraid to offer some real talk about the competition within the market.
In this case, the acquisition of Bethesda, and subsequently Starfield, is a huge win for Microsoft. Greenberg isn’t about to apologize for something that’s just business, the same way that we wouldn’t expect a Sony executive to apologize for PlayStation exclusives, acquisitions, or partnerships.
[Source: SportSkeeda]