If you somehow missed the big news a while ago, Microsoft announced their acquisition of Bethesda and ZeniMax, the studios behind powerhouse franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. For a while, fans have been asking if this meant that PlayStation would be neglected in favour of making their new games exclusive to Microsoft platforms - as is usually the case with exclusivity deals. However, recently Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that talks about this have yet to happen as they haven't fully finalized and closed the deal yet. Meanwhile, Bethesda's Todd Howard believes having The Elder Scrolls 6 as an Xbox exclusive is "hard to imagine." READ MORE: The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes Announced for 2021 In an interview with Gamereactor, Spencer stated that talks about exclusivity have yet to happen, and that it's hard to forecast what these conversations might entail. "First of all, I would like to say that we haven’t acquired ZeniMax. We have announced our intention to acquire ZeniMax. It is going through regulatory approval and we don’t see any issues there," he said. "We expect early in 2021 the deal will close. But I say that because I want people to know, I’m not sitting down with Todd Howard and Robert Altman and planning their future. Because I’m currently not allowed to do that, that would be illegal." Spencer further added, "Your question is completely inbound, but I get a lot of questions right now: ‘is this game exclusive? Is this game exclusive?’ And right now, that is not my job in regards to ZeniMax. My job is not to sit down and go through their portfolio and dictate what happens." While the deal hasn't been completely closed just yet, it sounds like Xbox might still give Bethesda free reign to decide their platform launches, though take this as speculation for now. However, Todd Howard believes that The Elder Scrolls 6 only releasing on Microsoft platforms is "hard to imagine", giving some hope that they could still target releases on PlayStation - though we imagine if this is the case, some sort of timed exclusivity would be in effect for Xbox. "If you look at every Elder Scrolls game, there has been some exclusivity on Xbox or with Microsoft," said Howard in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. "We’ve partnered with every game. Morrowind was basically a console exclusive, Oblivion was a long timed exclusive, Skyrim’s DLC was exclusive for a long period of time. We’ll decide what makes the best sense for our audience when the time comes, and I can’t really project today what that looks like." The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in early development.

As is tradition with every new release of The Dark Pictures Anthology, the latest installment of Little Hope came with a teaser packaged at the end of the game, revealing the next chapter in the series. This time, developer Supermassive Games are taking a descent with the official announcement of The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes. The teaser trailer released for the game depicts horror in the desert, as soldiers infiltrate a network of caves that could potentially harbour some, well, supernatural dangers. READ MORE: Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine Delayed Due to Pandemic The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes' teaser trailer can be unlocked in Little Hope by simply completing the game. Much like last year's Man of Medan which teased Little Hope in its post-credits, House of Ashes has been teased for a 2021 release next October, though no platforms have been specified yet. Supermassive Games have been hard at work with their anthology horror series after taking a critically acclaimed dip in the genre with Until Dawn. Since then, the developer has produced narrative-driven works anchored by their specialty of multiple choices and consequences system. Check out the exciting teaser trailer below: With Little Hope out today (just in time for old-fashioned Halloween scares with friends), it's a great time to drop Supermassive Games' next anticipated horror project. House of Ashes certainly lifts some inspiration from 2005's great horror outing, The Descent, as it depicts - or better yet, teases - monsters lurking in the confines of a network of dark caves. We're uncertain what the actual threat is, but we imagine it will provide the thrills and chills in doses, if they can live up to Until Dawn. Meanwhile, wait a while as we're currently hard at work playing The Dark Pictures: Little Hope - we'll have a review to you very soon! The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes has been announced, and releases in 2021.

While a release date was previously set for Far Cry 6 to launch in February 2021, Ubisoft has announced that the anticipated title will now be pushed into their 2022 fiscal year (beginning April 2nd, 2021 and running until March 31st, 2022). The delay was due to "production challenges caused by COVID-19", making it one of the many upcoming titles also affected by the ongoing pandemic. Along with Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine has also been delayed, though a release date was never set for the game. READ MORE: Final Fantasy XVI Teaser Site and New Character Details Revealed Ubisoft announced via a recent Twitter statement that both Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine will be delayed to an unannounced date sometime in their 2022 fiscal year. "Benefitting from this strong momentum, and despite having moved Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Quarantine to 2021-22 to leverage their full potential in the context of production challenges caused by COVID-19, our new [income targets] for 2020-21 remain within the boundaries set back in May," Ubisoft said. "Being able to maximize the long-term value of our IPs, while at the same time maintaining solid financial targets highlights the increasing recurring nature of our revenues, the strength of our portfolio of franchises, and confidence in our holiday season release slate." Far Cry 6's original release date was set for February 18th, 2021, while Rainbow Six Quarantine had an unspecified 2020 release date. Now, it looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer for the next two major Ubisoft releases. However, this fiscal year should still be a fruitful one for Ubisoft. Watch Dogs Legion releases today, while two upcoming potential heavy-hitters, Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising, are scheduled to release over the course of the next couple of months. Delaying Far Cry 6 into their next fiscal year shouldn't be a massive blow to the company. On the other hand, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is also scheduled to release on January 21st, 2021, adding to their line-up of big games releasing this fiscal year. Sadly, Far Cry and Rainbow Six fans will have to accept the delay. Far Cry 6 now releases sometime in 2021/2022.

Right on cue, Square Enix has unveiled the Final Fantasy XVI teaser website. The web page gives us a very Final Fantasy outlook into the world and the characters of the upcoming PlayStation 5 title. Alongside that, PlayStation Blog has also listed some new details for us to go through. READ MORE: Xbox Series X and Series S Unboxing Impressions According to the teaser website, the protagonist is called Clive Rosefield. The firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria, Clive is a Shield who protects his younger brother Joshua, the Dominant of the Phoenix. Joshua bestowed the Blessing of the Phoenix upon him, giving Clive the ability to wield a part of the Eikon’s fire. However, as the story unfolds, he is swept up into a great tragedy." Clive, his brother Joshua, and childhood friend Jill Warrick embark on their adventure that takes place in the land of Valisthea, an area surrounded by a crystal named Mothercrystals. "Countless wars have been fought over the Mothercrystals all around the land, leading to the rise of nations such as the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, the Kingdom of Waloed, the Dhalmekian Republic, and the Iron Kingdom, each with their own culture and ideology. Ongoing skirmishes have forged an uneasy peace between these nations, but with the emergence of the ruinous Blight, that fragile peace is starting to deteriorate." Final Fantasy fans are no strangers to the idea of Summons, which are called Eikons in Final Fantasy XVI. These are known to be some of the most dangerous creatures in all of Valisthea with the ability to completely decimate entire nations. Final Fantasy XVI is currently in development.