Xbox Buys Bethesda - A Massive Move for Exclusives

Woke up and everywhere, headlines are screaming all over about Xbox's recent investment of a gobsmacking $7.5 billion. Yep, you read that right, $7.5 billion. This week on Monday, Microsoft announced that they have acquired the entire ZeniMax Media company and all of its intellectual properties - namely, Bethesda Game Studios. Moments before pre-orders open for the Xbox Series X/S, this is a massive move for great exclusive games on Xbox! 

By buying out ZeniMax Media, Microsoft now owns Bethesda and all of the following studios: 

• Arkane
• Tango Gameworks
• MachineGames
• id
• Bethesda Softworks
• Bethesda Game Studios
• Roundhouse Studios 
• Alpha Dog 

If you're unaware, here are some of the games that have been released by the above in the past months: 

• Prey 
• Quake 
• Wolfenstein 
• DOOM 
• Dishonored
• Elder Scrolls Online 
• Fallout 76
• And many more..

I'll say it again, this is a massive move by Microsoft. Personally, I'm a fan of both the Wolfenstein and moreso, the DOOM series of titles. Having them exclusively on Xbox will definitely give me something to think about. Otherwise, games such as Fallout and Elder Scrolls Online also have large communities. 

According to the folks over at Microsoft, this is part of a greater plan: 

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been excited to share more detail on important elements of a plan we’ve been building towards for years. A plan that is the fulfilment of a promise, to you the Xbox player, to deliver the most performant, immersive and compatible next-generation gaming experiences, and the freedom to play blockbuster games with your friends, anytime, anywhere.

Today is a landmark step in our journey together and I’m incredibly energized by what this step means for Xbox.

Buying out game developers is definitely a great tactic to claim full ownership of titles. However, I doubt Microsoft will be shelling out many more billions into acquiring further developers. 

And that's where we turn our attention to Sony. While they already have multiple game studios allied to them, this move definitely hurts Sony's PS5 due to a loss of games. They'll have to work harder to make up for the loss or even make a little announcement of their own. Notably, this also affects the Nintendo Switch as it offered some of the above titles too. One thing to note is that this doesn't necessarily mean exclusivity, but Xbox won't give up these IPs unless at a very high price. 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!