Starfield is coming this September as an Xbox console exclusive, but there was a time where things almost played out very differently.

During his cross examination as part of today’s trial between Microsoft/Activision Blizzard and the FTC, Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed that there were discussions about Starfield potentially skipping Xbox consoles prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax.

Back in 2020 — when Microsoft announced its plans to buy Bethesda — journalist Imran Khan first reported on Starfield’s potential PlayStation exclusivity, writing “Sony had been negotiating timed exclusivity on Starfield as recently as a few months ago. Going to guess either those talks are done or the price suddenly went way, way up.”

Developing…