Microsoft finalizes Bethesda buyout, so now what?

Microsoft has finalized the deal to buyout Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion USD.

“This is the next step in building an industry-leading first party studios team, a commitment we have to our Xbox community,” Xbox head Phil Spencer said in a press release.

“With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams, gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players.”

So it would seem that Microsoft is at least planning on making certain Bethesda games exclusive to the Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC. Though perhaps not all. However, the buyout will certainly give the Xbox team a rather sizable stable to chose from. Venerable franchises like the Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, and Wolfenstein.

One of the biggest criticisms levied towards the Xbox in recent years has been the lack of high quality exclusive titles. The success of a console is largely built on top of its library. More so than ever given that there’s very little else differentiating Microsoft’s products from rival Sony. Sluggish sales for the Xbox One proved that neither Halo nor Gears of War alone can draw the big crowds anymore. So Microsoft has been on a bit of a buying spree as of late. Bethesda’s fellow Fallout developer Obsidian was acquired last year. The company has also snatched up Tim Schafer’s Double Fine and Hellblade developer Ninja Theory.

It’s clear that Microsoft is taking their competitors much more seriously than they did last generation. Though whether Bethesda can deliver a game that will convince people to join the Green Team still remains to be seen.

The developer’s reputation took a major hit following the release of the utter (and utterly hilarious) disaster that was Fallout 76 back in 2018. It’s unclear whether Starfield will be able to make up for that. Especially given that it runs on the same tired and broken Creation Engine that powered 76, as well as Fallout 4 and Skyrim. Though other ZeniMax studio, id Software, has had a couple huge home runs in the last half decade. Should Doom become an Xbox and PC exclusive, that will be a huge deal. All and all though, this is proving to be the most excitement for Xbox fans have had since the glory days of the 360.