Microsoft has announced a massive purchase on its blog. Its assets now include ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company. Together with it, Microsoft got:
Alpha Dog is a game studio that develops mobile games;
Arkane – Developer of Dishonored, Prey and DEATHLOOP
Bethesda Game Studios – developer of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout;
Bethesda Softworks Publisher;
id Software is the developer of DOOM;
MachineGames is the developer of Wolfenstein;
Roundhouse Studios is a studio created in 2019 that includes all Human Head employees;
Tango Gameworks – Developer of GhostWire Tokyo and The Evil Within
ZeniMax Online Studios is the developer behind The Elder Scrolls Online.
The deal is worth $ 7.5 billion. ZeniMax Media will receive all the money in cash. The deal must be closed by June 30, 2021. Only then will it be considered that ZeniMax Media will become part of Microsoft. This means that the deal will have no impact on development for the PlayStation 5, which is scheduled for release before that date.
However, it is not yet known how Bethesda will release the games and how it will work with Sony after the acquisition. DTF colleagues drew attention to the following words of the head of Bethesda Game Studios Todd Howard, believing that in them he hints at the lack of exclusivity in the agreement with Microsoft:
As was the case with our partnerships in the past, we are now talking about more than one system or one screen. We deeply believe in the fundamental power of games, in their ability to connect, empower, and bring joy. And the faith that we must convey to everyone, regardless of who you are, where you live or what you play on. It is independent of the screen size, controller, or your skill in using it.
Todd Howard
Head of Bethesda Game Studios
Microsoft has confirmed that Bethesda games will be included with Xbox Game Pass. Pete Hines, senior vice president of global marketing and communications at Bethesda, said the publisher would be releasing the games themselves.
Why is this deal?
The meaning of this purchase for Microsoft is quite clear: now a new generation of consoles is coming out and the company needs to make some knight's move to take a worthy position in the market. And the Bethesda exclusives for Xbox and PC may be just the very feature for which PlayStation 5 buyers will start looking towards Xbox.
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Ilya Kichaev
9 September 2020
For Bethesda, this deal isn't all about money in the first place. Although, no, probably all the same about them. Microsoft is expected to invest a lot of money. But besides money, these are other possibilities:
Microsoft is a great partner to give you access to resources to help us become a better publisher and developer. We believe you can play the best games. We believe these changes are an important part of the improvement. We believe we will be better to innovate and grow.
Pete Hines
Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Communications, Bethesda
Since I don't understand much about games, I decided to contact my friend who lives by them and streams everything on Twitch. And this is what he says:
Plus the purchase means that Microsoft is also buying Bethesda titles: DOOM, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout. And the development of these titles may involve Microsoft technology or developers from other studios under the wing of Redmond. For example, the developers of Outer Worlds, who once developed Fallout.
At least Bethesda has Fallout (not only 76, but in principle a title), The Elder Scrolls, and Starfield – their mysterious project in a sci-fi setting, which they did not show. When I imagine that some developments from Microsoft Flight Simulator can be used there (with downloading assets and data from servers), my head goes off into space.
yansky_yan
Streamer
Here I agree: the new Flight Simulator just blows the roof and the technologies used in it can take games to the next level. And this is without regard to the rumor that Microsoft is killing all its purchases. This is certainly not the case.
An example will probably be a little silly, but still: after acquiring Mojang AB in 2014 and the rights to Minecraft for $ 2.5 billion, Microsoft continued to develop it. All this led to the fact that in May 2020 a record was recorded: 126 million players per month.
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Kostya Baranov
19 August 2019
Therefore, the confidence that the deal will be a blessing for Bethesda, I have unshakable.
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