Starfield PS5 exclusivity petition actually gathers steam, is still super embarrassing

Console exclusivity is certainly something that usually leads to a tad of envy, unless you happen to own every console on offer. That’s totally natural - we all appreciate great games. If you’re a PlayStation or Xbox owner, you may be keen to try out The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Xbox users may be itching to dive into the Marvel’s Spider-Man series, while Switch owners might be eager to try out Hi-Fi Rush. You get the idea.

Wanting a game to be released on your preferred platform is totally understandable. What doesn’t make sense is wanting an Xbox-exclusive to become a PlayStation-exclusive. I truly thought we’d left that kind of thinking behind in the console wars of yesteryear, but one petition on change.org is campaigning for just that: to make Bethesda’s upcoming space epic Starfield a PlayStation 5 exclusive release, and it has a baffling number of signatures.

Take a look at Starfield’s latest trailer below.

The ‘Make Starfield a PS5 exclusive’ petition has garnered 3,515 signatures against a goal of 5,000. It’s not a life-changing number - and it’s certainly not a number that’s going to make Bethesda change their plans - but it’s still baffling when you think about what this petition is trying to achieve.

If you’re scratching your head thinking, ‘Why isn’t the petition asking Bethesda to simply release the game on PlayStation as well as Xbox,’ allow me to fill you in. Benjamin Dickey, the originator of the petition, wrote, “For over a decade, Bethesda games have been released on PlayStation. They perform better on PlayStation, run better, and sell better. Xbox and especially Phil Spencer have NO BUSINESS taking them away. First, Xbox exclusivity would not only hurt PlayStation but also the player base.”

He continued, “Second, Xbox and its 12 dedicated players do NOT deserve Starfield or any exclusivity. Not only are they arrogant and annoying but since the showcase they have been irritating. [...] Third, exclusivity is not good for Starfield itself. The matter is simple. If it releases on Xbox, it's a bad game. Go look at Redfall or Halo Infinite as examples. [...] Fourth, I keep getting told, ‘They care about quality now, Phil Spencer forced them to delay it for quality.’ I have news for you, Pill Dispenser is a PUSHOVER! The guy is in charge of Xbox but doesn't care enough to check games before they release.”

“For all of these reasons, it is important for Bethesda games to remain available on PlayStation. Not only that but to ensure the high quality of the games, ANY AND ALL future Bethesda titles should be ONLY PlayStation exclusives. [...] We need to go out and protest at GameStops and Walmarts on Starfield’s release date. We need to submit legislation to our local representatives to FORCE Microsoft to comply. We need to go out in mass and stop people from buying copies on the launch date. Even better go online and report every video you see praising Starfield until we make it exclusive for us and ONLY us. [...]If you're a true gamer you will support this and sign.” Make of that what you will.