Microsoft just bought the massive video game publisher behind game franchises like 'DOOM,' 'Fallout,' and 'The Elder Scrolls' in a major coup that cost $7.5 billion
"Fallout 76"
- Microsoft is buying a major game publisher, the company announced on Monday morning.
- In a deal worth $7.5 billion, Microsoft is buying Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media — which includes such gaming blockbuster franchises as "DOOM," "The Elder Scrolls," and "Fallout," among many others.
- The deal brings all of Bethesda's game studios under the Xbox Studios umbrella.
- "As a proven game developer and publisher, Bethesda has seen success across every category of games, and together, we will further our ambition to empower the more than three billion gamers worldwide," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in the press release announcing the news.
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Microsoft is buying the massive game publisher behind major franchises like "Fallout," "The Elder Scrolls," and "DOOM" in a deal worth $7.5 billion in cash, the company said in a press release on Monday.
The deal incorporates several major video game development studios into Microsoft's Xbox Studios umbrella, as well as the major game franchises they oversee: id Software ("DOOM"), Bethesda Game Studios ("Fallout," "The Elder Scrolls," "Starfield"), Arkane Studios ("Dishonored," "Deathloop"), and MachineGames ("Wolfenstein").
The announcement comes just one day before pre-orders on Microsoft's next-gen Xbox consoles go live. The Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X are scheduled to arrive this November, and this acquisition is intended to make the new conosles more enticing to potential buyers.
That's because all of the games included in the deal will head to Microsoft's gaming subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. Moreoever, upcoming games from those studios will launch on Game Pass.
"This includes Microsoft's intent to bring Bethesda's future games into Xbox Game Pass the same day they launch on Xbox or PC," the press release said, "like 'Starfield,' the highly anticipated, new space epic currently in development by Bethesda Game Studios."
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