Welp.
Microsoft’s Xbox team significantly expanded its list of game development studios on Monday, announcing the purchase of ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash. The entertainment company owns several industry-leading game developers, including Bethesda Softworks, the maker of the post-apocalyptic Fallout games and the fantasy series The Elder Scrolls. It also owns Id Software, known for its Doom, Rage and Wolfenstein shooting game franchises.
…Well. At least it wasn’t EA. God knows what happens to the next Fallout and/or Elder Scrolls, though. No, wait, we were wondering that now. So: never mind, I guess?
If this results in Obsidian getting to make another Fallout (or dare to dream, take over the franchise) it will all be worth it.
Heck, it might mean that inXile gets to make a Fallout.
Or Obsidian. Their zek already joked about it.
The view that I’ve seen tossed around most often is that very little will change.
What is likely to happen is that, in the future, some minor titles from Arkane and the like will be XB and Windows exclusives, but the major stuff will be cross platform. But they’ve already announced all Bethesda stuff will be in the Microsoft gamepass and for the big titles they can promote it as “Get Fallout 5 for free on release with Xbox Game Pass! Also available for $70 on PS5.” Although Fallout 5 or Elder Scrolls VI might move a lot of consoles, so there’s still a shot of it happening.
Fun fact- the purchase means that Microsoft is producing two PS5 exclusive titles right now.
That means Deathloop as a “limited time exclusive” for the PS, won’t have “until we release the sequel” as the “limited time”. (That was fricking evil. And I still resent it, years later.)
.
I’m surprisingly OK with this.
Partially because Bethesda has become a trainwreck.
Partially because M$ has made a major pro-consumer shift.
Partially because even before that shift, M$ was positively benign compared to EA and Activision. (Yeah, they were right bastards about sticking with release dates and not letting devs deviate from the initial pitch. Looking around at various AAA games to have come out over the last decade… I kind of have to side with M$.)
And also, I’ll get to play Deathloop!
It’s been pointed out that this deal means that Microsoft is now making two PS5-exclusive titles.
😛