Microsoft just BOUGHT Bethesda

Pretty big news, from now on Bethesda and all its subsidiaries are owned by Microsoft and will go Xbox exclusive (and PC) from now on. This means DOOM, Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls (probably the bulk of the deal), Prey, Evil Within and all future titles. This does mean that Ghostwire will still go to PS5, but might not retain its exclusivity.

Very, very big deal imo. Could shake the console-war so to speak haha.

Grateful we'll still see these titles on PC. Very big news indeed, but disappointing (even though I won't touch most games under the Zenimax brand) - exclusivity deals best serve to screw over the consumer.

I'm always split. People call it disadvantageous to consumers, but meanwhile system-exclusives get the biggest budgets and talent behind them as they are meant to sway consumers to their brand. Competition is always good I'd say. Though in this sense, at least they are still on PC.

Team Xbox has already noted that some games will still be multiplatform on a game-by-game basis, but you can still bet they'll heavily promote their Xbox version more with temporary deals.

> Zenimax games
Prey and The Evil Within were their big games imo, for me at least. Doom is great too and I admit...Skyrim and Oblivion have been played to death by me too haha.

Big move for Microsoft for sure. The timing of this is fantastic as well for Microsoft. I wonder how many 'on the fence' folks will be swayed to make the purchase now. I guess it doesn't change much for PC players.

I'd imagine this means better tools and pipelines to build their tech as well. This probably means free access to Azure resources to do what they need to in terms of fast prototype iteration, load/scale testing, networking solutions, automated builds/unit tests, etc. I would love to have free access to Azure, it gets very expensive fast for some high performant solutions.

I'm surprised. It'll be interesting to see how this will work fully. I haven't really looked into this but it makes me think of Microsoft buying Rare.

“What do you guys have to offer?” he asked, bluntly.

Eventually an exasperated Mikami boiled it down: 'what is your philosophy? Sony says games are entertainment, something larger, fuelled by the Emotion Engine. Nintendo says games are toys, created by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, perhaps the greatest game developer of all time. What do you feel?' Microsoft had no answer.

It does show a wider strategy though, especially of late. Sony is still doing the 'same old', Nintendo is being Nintendo, and Microsoft is aiming to be the Netflix with Game Pass. There's a pretty good article on Verge about it: https://www.theverge.com/21449178/microsoft-xbox-bethesda-zenimax-media-acquisition-xbox-game-pass

Not a completely correct article mind you, but it does nail quite a lot of solid beats on why Microsoft just doesn't care. Game Pass bringing in 1 billion~ a year currently, probably more when it gets these games as well as goes to more platforms, it's a different strategy. One they can risk taking since they aren't on the edge of bankrupcy like Sony's been for ages now.