Microsoft bags Bethesda after $7.5B ZeniMax deal closes
Some future games "will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players," Microsoft confirms.
Microsoft's $7.5 billion purchase of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of game developer Bethesda, is now complete, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in a blog post Tuesday. The milestone comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission each approved the deal, which was announced last September, weeks before the next-gen Xbox Series X and S launched.
Spencer also confirmed that some upcoming games from Bethesda, which develops the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series, "will be exclusive to Xbox and PC."
Elder Scrolls 6 was announced in 2016, but it's been a while since we've heard anything about it. However, Bethesda's Pete Hines said in a separate statement that you shouldn't expect any "landmark announcement or changes right now."
To mark the occasion, Microsoft will also add "additional Bethesda games" to Xbox Game Pass, its $10-a-month subscription service, later this week. It'll have a video presentation about acquisition on Thursday, according to VentureBeat, so we might then learn which games it's adding.
In addition to Bethesda, the acquisition includes Id Software (Doom), ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online), Arkane (Dishonored), MachineGames (the upcoming Indiana Jones game), Tango Gameworks (Ghostwire: Tokyo), Alpha Dog (Wraithborne) and Roundhouse Studios (a studio formed by the team behind the 2006 Prey).