Six months after announcing its intention to acquire Bethesda, Microsoft has now confirmed that the acquisition is complete.
In a blog post on the Xbox Wire, Phil Spencer announced that the acquisition of Bethesda Software including eight studios had been completed. These studios include: Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios
Spencer quickly confirmed that Xbox, PC and Game Pass would be the best place to play new Bethesda games with some new titles in the future being exclusive to Xbox and PC players. With Bethesda having Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls game way underway, it’s likely that both of these could be Xbox/PC exclusives.
We already know that two of Bethesda’s games this year in Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop will be PS5 and PC exclusive for at least 12 months, before they’ll presumably join Xbox Game Pass. These were deals that were put in place long before the acquisition begun.
It sounds like it’ll be business as usual for Bethesda, without much changing in terms of its operation with Spencer having the below to say:
“It’s vitally important that Bethesda continues making games the way it always has. We look forward to empowering Bethesda’s creative teams to reach even more players around the world, helping make future Bethesda titles the biggest and most popular games in their history. Xbox and Bethesda have long shared a common vision for the future of gaming. Both as fans and as creators, Bethesda understands the potential of Xbox Game Pass.”
This is no doubt a big win for Microsoft. With the Game Pass service being a bit hit over the last 12-18 months, and it obviously being their key way forward, having one of the larger publishers in its stable, will no doubt be a big boost to their software output.
