[UPDATE] Microsoft announces acquisition of Bethesda

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In one of the most unexpected moves in the video games industry this year, Microsoft has announced the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks which is itself renowned for video game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM and Dishonored. Microsoft reportedly paid $7.5 billion in order to acquire Zenimax Media, which makes this the biggest video game purchase in history.

"[This merger] allows us to make even better games going forward," Pete Hines, VP of PR & Marketing at Bethesda, wrote in a blog post today. "Microsoft is an incredible partner and offers access to resources that will make us a better publisher and developer. We believe that means better games for you to play."

Now that Obsidian and Bethesda are part of the same family, it raises the possibility of a sequel to Fall Out New Vegas. Interestingly, Bethesda planned to release two of its new games, Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, as timed exclusives on the PS5, rather than on the Xbox Series X/S.

In any case, are there any new games you'd like to see from this new acquisition?

UPDATE:

Speaking to Bloomberg, Phil Spencer said that the timed console exclusivity on Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo will be maintained while future Bethesda titles will launch on Xbox, PC, and "other consoles on a case by case basis."

:arrow: SOURCE
:arrow: UPDATE SOURCE
 

AshuraZro

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Given the wide appeal of The Elder Scrolls and Doom, I imagine those would remain a multi-platform series as not doing that is leaving money on the table. The new IP of Starfield however? I'd be surprised if that didn't become Xbox and PC only.
 

RupeeClock

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This presents Microsoft a serious opportunity to have real exclusives over the Playstation brand this generation.
They might decide to allow the likes of Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Doom to publish on multiple systems still recognizing the value of wider reach, but they could make the Xbox brand that much more stronger by keeping these off of Playstation.

I dunno, I'm just stating obvious things here, but this is a really interesting development since Xbox has historically lacked exclusives when compared to Playstation as a direct competitor.
 
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GBADWB

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now that microsoft owns both bethesda and obsidian, can we have obsidian design the rpg elements to fallout now?
 

FAST6191

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Well I missed that one entirely.

If they are going to do exclusives then boo exclusives. If not then I am curious to see where this goes, not least of all because MS and gaming are not always the bestest of buddies (I always get the impression it is more of an obligation so as to keep some relevance than much else, still produces wonders like the 360 though and acts as a foil for Sony so I am OK with that).

Might have to update my little journalism guide if Zenimax* are no longer a single player as it were.

*by the way they do own several other notable houses beyond Bethesda-- id Software (Doom, Quake), MachineGames (Wolfenstein, though id did some earlier titles), Arkane Studios (Dishonored), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within)). Indeed at first I thought they had sold off Bethesda which would be even more radical from where I sit.

As far as the chances of exclusives... I don't have anything I want to predict.
Their previous big acquisition of Rare was already breaking down and has gone on to do... not a lot really.
Bungie was spun off into 343 industries but they were more a single franchise company so not really like this.
Lionhead is probably another single issue company, and was nearly 15 years ago.
Mojang. The minecraft company. While a single issue thing again... a bit bigger. They also kept it at arm's length in many ways.
inXile. Great games often (The Bard's Tale, wasteland, torment and I will confess that I did like Hunted The Demon's Forge) but not really a power player.
Obsidian. Some nice games (Neverwinter Nights 2, Alpha Protocol, were given Dungeon Siege but I don't want to talk about Dungeon Siege III, Stick of Truth, Fallout: New Vegas aka probably the last vaguely good modern Fallout, The Outer Worlds, and there was also that Stormlands thing so they do ambitious) but not really comparable to Zenimax.

Most other things on the software front have been way back in the day probably prior to even the original xbox (which I remind everybody is nearly 20 years ago) and thus no longer that relevant in the current landscape.
MS with and their other stuff could more convincingly make a run on Steam and Epic with this -- even if they are timed, cheaper or with bonuses. I will probably continue to laugh at MS' little attempt to do a software store/repository (to this day I have never used it to install something for real and don't think I know anybody that has).
 
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