It’s official, Bethesda is now part of Xbox and some games will be Xbox/PC exclusive

It’s official, Microsoft now owns ZeniMax Media, making Bethesda an official part of Xbox. Following all necessary approvals, Microsoft has now acquired Zenimax, allowing Xbox to gobble up top-tier game studios like Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios, expanding Xbox’s in-house studios from 16 to 25.

Later this week, Microsoft plans to add more of Bethesda’s Games to Xbox Game Pass, adding extra value to the subscription service. Xbox also confirmed that “ Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games”. 

In the future, Microsoft also plans to create “some new titles” that are “exclusive to Xbox and PC players”, locking away some of Bethesda’s future titles from the PlayStation and Nintendo gaming ecosystems. 

With Microsoft stating that PC and Xbox will be “the best place” to experience future Bethesda games, it seems likely that all future Bethesda games will be developed with a Microsoft first approach. 

In Microsoft’s blog post on the acquisition, Microsoft has not formally called Bethesda part of Xbox Game Studios. Xbox has stated that they feel that it is “vitally important that Bethesda continues making games the way it always has.” It looks like Bethesda will act as a separate entity from Xbox Games Studios, acting independently but with a common vision. 

Rumour has it that Microsoft is planning an event where they will discuss the future of Bethesda in more detail and show off some of the company’s upcoming games. Now that the acquisition is complete, Microsoft can now exert its influence on Bethesda and start working on a joint future. 

 

    This is an exciting day for Xbox. Today we officially complete the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks. It’s an honor to welcome the eight incredibly talented development studios – Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios – and their passionate global communities to the Xbox family. Now that everything is official, we can begin working together to deliver more great games to everyone. At every step building toward this moment, I’ve been inspired and motivated by the creativity, insight, and community-first approach of the talented people at Bethesda. Our goal is to give these teams the best foundation for doing their greatest work and to learn from them as we continue to build Xbox into an inclusive platform for all players.

This is the next step in building an industry-leading first party studios team, a commitment we have to our Xbox community. With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams, gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players.

  
This acquisition brings nine developers under the Xbox banner alongside franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Prey, Quake, Starfield and more into Microsoft’s wheelhouse. In short, this acquisition will have a huge impact on the console gaming landscape, giving Microsoft a vast library of IP to play with. 

With this acquisition, PlayStation fans can no longer state that “Xbox Has no Games”. Now, Xbox fans can ask PlayStation users if they will be getting the next Elder Scrolls, Fallout, or DOOM release. To say that this acquisition is a game-changer for Microsoft is an understatement. 

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