Microsoft Acquires Bethesda Softworks For $7.5 Billion USD

Microsoft has acquired ZeniMax Media and publisher Bethesda Softworks for $7.5 billion USD. In a published letter from Phil Spencer on Xbox Wire, the head of Xbox welcomed The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Quake franchises, Starfield, and more, to the Microsoft family.

Spencer called the acquisition a “landmark step” for Microsoft, as the company now has 23 “creative studio teams” making titles for PC and Xbox. According to the Xbox blog post:

Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world. Our teams have a close and storied history working together, from the amazing first DOOM, and its id Tech engine, innovating games on PCs to Bethesda bringing their first console game to the original Xbox, the groundbreaking The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Over the years I’ve had many deep conversations with the creative leaders at Bethesda on the future of gaming and we’ve long shared similar visions for the opportunities for creators and their games to reach more players in more ways.

Just as they took the bold first steps to bring The Elder Scrolls franchise to the original Xbox, Bethesda were early supporters of Xbox Game Pass, bringing their games to new audiences across devices and have been actively investing in new gaming technology like cloud streaming of games. We will be adding Bethesda’s iconic franchises to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC, including Obsidian and Arkane Studios, and Tango Gameworks. One of the things that has me most excited is seeing the roadmap with Bethesda’s future games, some announced and many unannounced, to Xbox console and PC including Starfield, the highly anticipated, new space epic currently in development by Bethesda Game Studios.

Bethesda’s senior vice president of global marketing and communications at Bethesda made a separate post saying the company has a “long history of working with Microsoft,” and that it will continue to make games as it always has. Pete Hines also stated that Microsoft will provide more resources to “innovate and “grow” the studio.

In other gaming news, Sony apologies for its PlayStation 5 pre-order mishap.