Microsoft Acquires Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, MachineGames, and More for $7.5 Billion

Tsing

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Did anyone see this coming? Microsoft has announced that it has acquired ZeniMax Media and its legendary subsidiaries, which include the likes of Bethesda Game Studios (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls), id Software (DOOM), Arkane Studios (Dishonored), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within), and MachineGames (Wolfenstein) in a deal worth $7.5 billion. So much for the Xbox having “no games,” right?



“Today is a special day, as we welcome some of the most accomplished studios in the games industry to Xbox,” wrote Xbox head Phil Spencer. “We are thrilled to announce Microsoft has entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks.”



“Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around...
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Unpopular opinion: MS is worse than EA. They are not greedy, they are incompetent when it comes to gaming. They don't know what they are doing.

Rest assured the xbox whatever its called (yeah their marketing is so bad I Don't even know the name of their next gen console) will still be second to the ugly PS5, possibly third to nintendo.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Unpopular opinion: MS is worse than EA. They are not greedy, they are incompetent when it comes to gaming. They don't know what they are doing.

Rest assured the xbox whatever its called (yeah their marketing is so bad I Don't even know the name of their next gen console) will still be second to the ugly PS5, possibly third to nintendo.
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In my opinion Microsoft is perfectly competent in running a gaming business. People generally don't like MS for two primary reasons: they want full ownership of everything a studio does and they bring down the hammer on studios that do not stay within milestone guidelines. From a business perspective these two things are both perfectly fine and expected. EA is worse to me because they force studios to slowly die through meddling in the creative process. It's insidious and disgusting. At least Microsoft is honest about their motives behind their decisions.
 
Wow I did not see this coming at all. Usually you catch a whiff of these things via rumor mill or whatever. They managed to keep the lid tight on this one.

MS needed some Xbox exclusives and here you go. Next Fallout game, xbox/pc exclusive.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Unpopular opinion: MS is worse than EA. They are not greedy, they are incompetent when it comes to gaming. They don't know what they are doing.

Rest assured the xbox whatever its called (yeah their marketing is so bad I Don't even know the name of their next gen console) will still be second to the ugly PS5, possibly third to nintendo.
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I agree MS is crap. They suck all the life out of anything they touch and they fill it with American corporate beige.
 
Armenius said:
In my opinion Microsoft is perfectly competent in running a gaming business. People generally don't like MS for two primary reasons: they want full ownership of everything a studio does and they bring down the hammer on studios that do not stay within milestone guidelines. From a business perspective these two things are both perfectly fine and expected. EA is worse to me because they force studios to slowly die through meddling in the creative process. It's insidious and disgusting. At least Microsoft is honest about their motives behind their decisions.
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Does not seem like they are very competent. XBOX has been struggling for generations. And this purchase is too late to help the current one. And if Halo is any indication things aren't looking up.
 
MadMummy76 said:
Does not seem like they are very competent. XBOX has been struggling for generations. And this purchase is too late to help the current one. And if Halo is any indication things aren't looking up.
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To be fair, they did pretty good during the 360 generation. And Mattick's bungling of the Xbox One launch really crippled that generation. I think Spencer has handled Xbox very well (all things considering). This purchase definitely doesn't help the current (One) but I'm sure the acquisition is for the Series S|X, which it will.

MadMummy76 said:
If that means exclusive to windows store, they just lost themselves a customer in me.
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Definitely agree there. If they try to use these acquisitions as exclusives for their Windows online store, it'd be terrible. I'm hopeful due to how open they've been with Steam.
 
SeymourGore said:
To be fair, they did pretty good during the 360 generation. And Mattick's bungling of the Xbox One launch really crippled that generation. I think Spencer has handled Xbox very well (all things considering). This purchase definitely doesn't help the current (One) but I'm sure the acquisition is for the Series S|X, which it will.



Definitely agree there. If they try to use these acquisitions as exclusives for their Windows online store, it'd be terrible. I'm hopeful due to how open they've been with Steam.
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Yes, it was the launch fiasco that hurt the Xbox for the entire generation. First impressions are everything, and that concept applies to products as well as people. Even though they have managed to turn it around somewhat they were never going to win back those people they lost.

As far as Windows releases, I am hoping for more on Steam. As seen with Halo the Xbox account can integrate with Steam seamlessly without the need for anything extra installed. Maybe some day we can see Game Pass on Steam after the deal that was made for EA Play.
 
Peter_Brosdahl said:
Me too!
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Found out this morning from a friend in a text. I immediately thought it was another internet rumor blowing up, so asked for a link. Imagine my surprise when it was directly to the Xbox website.

Funnily enough, the last surprise that happened like this was when id was acquired by ZeniMax. At the time I thought id was going to stay independent indefinitely.
 
I'll be curious what MS does with these acquisitions now. I'm hoping for the best.
 
Uvilla said:
I agree MS is crap. They suck all the life out of anything they touch and they fill it with American corporate beige.
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Clearly like the recent MS Flight Simulator. Total garbage am I right?
 
I just had an insane thought after reading the Verge's article about all this... that MS doesn't care about exclusives but just wants to stuff Game Pass full of games. Sony... DOES care about exclusives, it has served them well. Sony doesn't have the infinity gauntlet sized wallet that MS does, but they could still try to buy another game company or work some crazy exclusive deal with them. Keep an eye on the internet, and don't be shocked if Sony buys Warner or Take 2 or ... I don't think they have the money to buy Activision but they could work some kind of deal with them. Activision is probably too big of a fish to catch, but I can see Sony picking up somebody.

Actually having typed that... I hope they don't go for Activision. They are bloated, overvalued, and lazy (ie - every COD game)... and Blizzard has plenty of problems on it's own too. But I think Warner could be ripe for takeover.

edit - reading about Warner they want too much. Smarter for Sony to pick up cheaper studios like Remedy (Control, Max Payne) or Supermassive (Until Dawn). Sony cannot win by outspending MS (not possible) so they should pick smart choices.

Ehhhh what do I know
 
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Burticus said:
I just had an insane thought after reading the Verge's article about all this... that MS doesn't care about exclusives but just wants to stuff Game Pass full of games. Sony... DOES care about exclusives, it has served them well. Sony doesn't have the infinity gauntlet sized wallet that MS does, but they could still try to buy another game company or work some crazy exclusive deal with them. Keep an eye on the internet, and don't be shocked if Sony buys Warner or Take 2 or ... I don't think they have the money to buy Activision but they could work some kind of deal with them. Activision is probably too big of a fish to catch, but I can see Sony picking up somebody.

Actually having typed that... I hope they don't go for Activision. They are bloated, overvalued, and lazy (ie - every COD game)... and Blizzard has plenty of problems on it's own too. But I think Warner could be ripe for takeover.

edit - reading about Warner they want too much. Smarter for Sony to pick up cheaper studios like Remedy (Control, Max Payne) or Supermassive (Until Dawn). Sony cannot win by outspending MS (not possible) so they should pick smart choices.

Ehhhh what do I know
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Sony has a plentiful number of revenue streams. TV's, Consoles, monitors... home... entertainment..... wow they've really shrunk a lot haven't they.

Ok but Sony still has the backing of Japan. And Japan is on a movement to keep companies and extract companies out of China. So that could be good news for Sony. (Not to the tune of MS money but still a hefty sum.)

Can Sony afford to buy some gaming studios. Sure. And don't forget Tencent has a heavy investment into Activision/Blizzard and having someone like Sony buy out their interest in Activision/Blizzard could be a boon.
 
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