Microsoft has acquired Bethesda, meaning titles like Dishonored, Doom, Fallout and more are now sitting under the Xbox Game Studios label.
A report from Bloomberg suggests Microsoft purchased Bethesda for $7.5 billion USD, with Xbox head saying that titles like Starfield, The Elder Scrolls 6 and more will be considered for non-Xbox platforms like PS5 and Switch “on a case by case basis”.
Moreover, Microsoft promised to honour agreed-upon console exclusivity timings for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo, meaning it’ll be a while until the titles appear on Xbox Series consoles. It's also been confirmed that Bethesda titles will soon be added to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription program.
Bethesda’s Pete Hines said of the acquisition:
So why the change? Because it allows us to make even better games going forward. Microsoft is an incredible partner and offers access to resources that will make us a better publisher and developer. We believe that means better games for you to play. Simply put – we believe that change is an important part of getting better. We believe in pushing ourselves to be better. To innovate. To grow.
Xbox head Phil Spencer said of the deal:
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.
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.
We’ll keep updated as learn more, including PS5 availability of future Bethesda titles. Until then, what do you make of the acquisition?