Microsoft Annouces Plans to Buy Bethesda Parent Company

Microsoft announced today that they will be buying ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, for £5.6/$7.5 billion in cash.

According to Microsoft, the gaming industry is now transforming from a device-centric era to a player-centric era that’s dependent on good games and good software, and this move as well as last week’s announcement of a cloud gaming service reflects this. 

“This is an awesome time to be an Xbox fan. In the last 10 days alone, we’ve released details on our two new consoles which go on pre-order tomorrow, launched cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and now we’re making another investment in the most critical part of our strategy: the games. “Generations of gamers have been captivated by the renowned franchises in the Bethesda portfolio and will continue to be so for years to come as part of Xbox.” - Phil Spencer, executive vice president of gaming at Microsoft.

According to Microsoft, the planned acquisition includes publishing offices and development studios spanning the globe with over 2,300 employees, including Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios. They will also acquire Bethesda’s best-selling franchises including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein, and Dishonored and other games that have not yet been announced.

With the addition of Bethesda and the other companies, Microsoft will grow from fifteen to twenty-three creative studio teams, according to Microsoft. This move will allow players to play Bethesda’s future games on the Xbox Game Pass on the same day that they launch, and the vast library of games that will be acquired in the purchase will also be made available on the Xbox Game Pass when the purchase goes through.

This is obviously huge news and everyone in the JDR team quite likes most of Bethesda’s games, so we’re excited to see what happens when the deal goes through in the second half of the fiscal year 2021. 

When there’s more news available about this, or when more games get added to the Game Pass, you can be sure to read about it here on Jump Dash Roll!