Xbox Marketing Head Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Photos And More About The Microsoft-Bethesda Event

Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg has shared some behind-the-scenes stories and photos about the recent Microsoft-Bethesda event that demonstrate the great lengths that were required to put on the event. In a Twitter thread, Greenberg said it was not an easy task to film an in-person event during the pandemic in a safe way, and he wanted to share some insight into how it all came together.

For the event, Greenberg and Xbox boss Phil Spencer flew to the Bethesda HQ in Maryland, while other higher-ups like Sarah Bond and Matt Booty appeared during the stream remotely from back in Washington. For Greenberg and Spencer, they received COVID-19 tests 48 hours before flying and sent them to the team with the negative results. On the flight itself, Greenberg wore a mask and a face shield for the duration of the flight "to be extra safe."

Once on the ground at Bethesda HQ, Greenberg and Spencer received another COVID-19 test at the building itself. This must have been a rapid test, as Greenberg said this took about 15 minutes.

When they got into the building itself, Greenberg and Spencer--along with the rest of the crew involved in producing the event--wore "proximity wristbands." Additionally, there was a COVID compliance officer on site.

Greenberg also shared that he was personally very excited to visit Bethesda's HQ because the offices are "so cool and filled with so many iconic memories from the worlds and characters they have made over the years." Greenberg said he's excited to visit Bethesda's other studios over time.

For the event itself, Greenberg said it was "completely unscripted" and they did almost no rehearsal, though he acknowledged that there was a basic outline of topics to be discussed. It was an intentional choice to speak more freely to help the executives come across as more natural and authentic, Greenberg said.

"At one point Todd Howard looked at me and smiled as he started to make paper airplanes with the 'notes' which inspired me to launch one that flew right by him as we all laughed and put the notes away," Greenberg said.

"Moments like this make me really appreciate how fortunate we are to get to work in an industry we love so much. I appreciate all the care the team took to make this a safe & memorable moment for all. I could not be more excited about that future ahead for Bethesda + Xbox!"

Finally, Greenberg shared a photo of Spencer playing Destiny 2 at the airport on a Windows Surface tablet through xCloud. Spencer is a huge fan of Destiny, so this is no surprise, but what's more interesting here is that Spencer appears to be playing Destiny 2 on an unannounced and unreleased xCloud app for Windows, as spotted by The Verge's Tom Warren.

The Microsoft-Bethesda event didn't have any major announcements--those are being saved until summer--but Spencer did clarify a key point about exclusives in the future. He said the goal is to release future Bethesda games on every platform that supports Game Pass, which cuts out PlayStation.