Xbox Acquires ZeniMax Media, Parent Company Of Bethesda Softworks

Whoah!! Good get to say the least!

Massive, massive acquisition!! That's a very nice portfolio of games!

Absolutely massive news. Elder Scrolls 6 exclusive to Xbox!

WOW. That is a ridiculous power play by Microsoft. Fair play to them, that's absolutely massive, industry-shaking news.

(here comes the but...)

BUT! Personally I'm not a Bethesda fan so can't say it'll affect my next gen buying decisions too much. But still, holy crap!

This is a huge acquisition. Just increasing the value and diversity of games in GamePass and their future first party lineup. Really amazing news

Surprising but I guess it does make sense, Fallout 76 would've been a gigantic flop if not for Game Pass.

Wait what? This is what news I wake up with? Dayum really well played Phil!

No matter who so ever tell you the otherwise, this is a proud and unprecedented moment for entire Xbox family.

The value of gamepass is truly unfathomable now. Xbox 1st party Studios is officially one of the biggest from today.

Hopefully this means the possibility of The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield will be exclusive. Still, pretty awesome news.

Absolutely mad. So much for thinking about cancelling Game Pass PC! Now that Series S looks like a decent second console indeed..

What an absolute baller move.

Well there goes my concerns that Sony had secured exclusivity for Starfield or ES6.

Considering how long these deals take, these means MS was sitting outside the office as Sony was making their offers for Deathloop and Ghostwire. "yes pay us money"

Happy to be joining Team Green for next gen, this has sealed the deal of the Xbox Series S or X being my second console.

Starfield being a day one Gamepass title is HUGE too.

Sony finally have a good competitor, this is gonna be a great generation!

Heck yes. This is a pretty solid acquisition!

Wow, that is a huge deal! I didn't expect that.

Sony's money-hatting has some long overdue competition.

How the !?! Wow this is just wow. This is insane. I wonder how the timed exclusivity deals are going to work.

Wow, Microsoft flexing them muscles with this. Microsoft’s messaging & planning has been brilliant for this next gen. I’m not a fan of subscriptions, but with the moves Microsoft are making, I’m seriously considering getting onto game pass. Wow

I'm still shocked by this, Bethesda's recent output has been dubious but some of the other studios such as Arkane and Id software have fared much better

So crazy, I'm shocked Zenimax was even for sale. It seemed they were pushing to be a big publisher. I guess everyone has their price.

Already made the decision to get a Series S then a PS5 a year or 2 down the line but this is making my choice look even better!

@carlos82 Especially considering Deathloop has been a big part of both PS5 presentations!

WOW, I can't believe this Xbox owns Bethesda.. This is a historic day for gaming, I can't get over this. Xbox is not messing around, I'm Just absolutely mindblown

I'm very happy, big good news for xbox 🤤
So next games from bethesda become xbox excluvises & directly in the gamepass ?

That is an insane acquisition. Especially with all on Gamepass. Lots of long RPGs there. Phil Spencer representing as usual. Of course I do wonder if they will still make some games multiplatform. Otherwise a lot of PS players will almost have to get a gamepass sub to carry on Elder Scrolls etc.

By the way, The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2 are underappreciated. The Doom, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls IPs are also a massive deal.

At least with Microsoft owning them, it will still come to PC. Unlike if Sony got them.

@nessisonett its kind of funny to think that a PS5 exclusive is actually owned by Microsoft. I wonder if many of Bethesda's games will remain multiplatform

I guarantee Phil will still allow all those future games to still be on ps5

@TheGamerKing Sony is criticised because they still buy timed exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI while Xbox acquire development studios to make Xbox and Game Pass (Xbox, PC and mobile) better.

@TheGamerKing
I wonder that too. Since Microsoft is about reaching as many players as possible. Not releasing Elder Scrolls and Fallout on Playstation seems like would be leaving a lot of money on the table. But at the same time....how many people would buy an Xbox if they kept it exclusive? Depends on their strategy.

This is much better than if Sony bought them, and i’m not saying that as a bigger fan of Xbox. The reason is that there will be more platforms available to play them on, e.g. PC and potentially mobile. Maybe even PS5 depending on the plan.

Well, ho-ly crap

"As one of the largest, most critically acclaimed, privately held game developers and publishers in the world, Bethesda is an incredibly talented group of 2,300 people worldwide who make up some of the most accomplished creative studios in our industry across Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios. These are the teams responsible for franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Prey, Quake, Starfield and many more."

Wow. So many IPs!

Now if they can get Koei Tecmo, owners of the Project Zero/Fatal Frame IP... (not Nintendo like some people believe).

https://trademarks.justia.com/780/96/fatal-78096019.html

The Evil Within 3.

I think Microsoft has stated at some point during all these acquisitions, that these companies will still be relatively autonomous in their operations. So I am sure multi-platform franchises will still be multi-platform (look at Minecraft). Money will just filter to Microsoft.

However, Game Pass value will shoot up as Bethesda games will all be added to Game Pass (and stay there). When Starfield/ES6 do come out, they will be Game Pass day 1 instead of paying $70/piece elsewhere - that Game Pass subscription is looking mighty appealing!

@themightyant Of course, that's what Game Pass is for, big and small games.

Microsoft: "Why did you get Doom and Wolfenstein out of Game Pass?"

Bethesda: "Because I own them".

Microsoft: "I'm going to buy you" 🤣.

@BlueOcean I was surprised to see The Evil Within on the banner there. Fingers crossed for a part 3 as the first two games were quite good.

Wow. These games are often dirt-cheap months after release, but still... Elder Scrolls!

@ShaiHulud 1 was a bit rough but I liked them both.

stunning acquisition by Microsoft

i dont know what to say other than ...

Microsoft game to play for the new generation haven’t they? That’s huge.

@TheGamerKing I don't think that Sony could afford that.

Insane! A mic drop moment for Microsoft.

This will have a massive impact on Sony in the years ahead.

Imagine these remasters coming to series X next year or the year after:
Fallout 3
New vegas
Skyrim

That's a solid 6 gaming franchises that are now xbox and PC only:

Doom
Dishonord
The elder scrolls
Fallout
Wolfenstein
Prey

Why couldn't they have waited until tomorrow! It's going to be even harder to get a pre-order now!

Stunning fantastic amazing brilliant news! Go team Xbox!!

Exclusives are temporary, but doom is Eternal...

on Xbox Gamepass.

@Medic_Alert Absolutely! That 7.5 billion will actually be costing Microsoft 22.5 billion as they say you need three times the amount to have it free to spend.

What news to wake up to!!! This is awesome!!

🎤 drop!

@themightyant Microsoft have acquired small studios before, they are not only looking for AAA studios. The small studios are safer now under Microsoft's umbrella and so are their "little" projects.

Wow this is crazy!!! Sadly this doesn’t make me as excited as WB would have been, but this is sill awesome!! Xbox bringing the heat!

@Thretosix I expect the two games to leap frog each other. giving both franchises room to breath between releases.

@Medic_Alert Deathloop is a Q2 2021 game so I expect a simultaneous release on Series, PC and PS5 even if it has to be delayed (Sony would have cancelled the Series version LOL).

@Nexozi I think that was the idea, this amount of buzz the day before orders open, that's a lot of juicy momentum

I honestly did not believe it. This is the biggest move so far.

And having Obsidian and Bethesda on the same team again could mean big things.

@BlueOcean
Completely agree. Obsidian, Ninja Theory, and InXile acquistion are very reminiscent of a studio like Arkane.

Hoooooolyyy fuuuuuuuudge!

I never saw this one coming at all!

Why oh why did they announce this before preorders?

Obsidian, inExile, Bethesda.....PSO2 exclusive in the west............XBox is now the RPG platform. Who would ever have seen that coming??

Maybe they can sell Fallout 76 Remastered for $70.

@NEStalgia
Throw in a cheap nylon bag edition for $100 and I'm there day one.

@Medic_Alert If that is correct, they can end the contract and pay the fine. Who knows.

Eiiekdnx f bddjjdkdmdmmen

@themightyant "For all Zenimax's faults they did keep funding studios like Arkane even after several relative sales flops."

Keep in mind the measure of success is different when it comes to memberships than when it comes to purchases.

Few may buy Prey. But many might play it if it was part of Game Pass, and that is a metric MS might use to justify studio financing.

A game might sell well but not do well on GamePass.
A game might get lots of GamePass engagement but not sell well.

Either of those will justify financing, as far as Microsoft cares.

@HotGoomba
Are you having a stroke?

We Love ❤Microsoft❤
We love 💚Xbox💚

Quickly off the top of my head I cant think of a better acquisition

@ChopperCampbell Doubt it'll be exclusive. Look at wasteland 3 and Minecraft.

@NEStalgia @Akimi Yes, there is a lot of variety in Xbox Game Studios now, big and small, American, European and Japanese teams and games.

@BlueOcean "Deathloop is a Q2 2021 game so I expect a simultaneous release on Series, PC and PS5 (Sony would have cancelled the Series version LOL)."

I am sure there are contractual obligations on that time exclusivity. We still dont know how long it is (might be months, might be a year) but one thing is sure: PS5 copies will have a very big Microsoft Game Studios logo when they play that game, and should it become a hit, sequels will very likely be XBox only.

But seriously, this is a HUGE acquisition. MS wont be able to justify it if every single title becomes XBox exclusive, some titles will likely continue to sell on other platforms, if only so they can recoup some of the investment. I expect at least some game IPs to get the Minecraft treatment.

@DonJorginho Sony finally has a worthy opponent.

@SolarSailor "Doubt it'll be exclusive. Look at wasteland 3 and Minecraft."

Wasteland 3 was under contractual obligations to be published by Deep Silver, and pulling back on that deal might had been too costly.

Minecraft famously had some strings attached, Notch, I recall, claimed the game being available on all platforms was part of the deal. It still was good for MS to own the IP, even if they could not take it exclusive.

Skyrim, though? Zenimax owns its own publishing arm, and that was also acquired. Exclusivity deals aside (Deathloop,) MS can do anything they want

@themightyant Do you have the list with the 8 new studios?

@Tharsman @Medic_Alert Who knows what will happen, it'll depend on the clauses and fines. The exclusivity deal will be temporary at worst. The Xbox Game Studios logo running on PS5 will be a thing to behold.

Could not help it:

Edit:
Seriously though, I will feel weird if all these IPs stop showing on PlayStation. Hope some keep supporting the platform.

Imagine being able to play games like Elder Scrolls VI and Ghostwire (on PC, at least) the day they come out for free if you have access to Xbox/PC Game Pass.

Damn!

OK, I found it.

New Xbox Game Studios:

Bethesda Game Studios
Id Software
ZeniMax Online Studios
Arkane
Machine Games
Tango Gameworks
Alpha Dog
Roundhouse Studios

@BlueOcean

Thx for the list! Ok

Bethesda is my favorite 3rd party publisher, so this is perfect for me!

I am still in utter shock about this! Such an awesome power move by Xbox!!

If Microsoft wanted more studios to produce more variety than their key first person shooters, Bethesda isn’t the answer.

Wow, talk about a
MIC
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DROP!!!

@MrGawain "If Microsoft wanted more studios to produce more variety than their key first person shooters, Bethesda isn’t the answer".

Bethesda is one of the 8 studios that they have acquired today.

@MrGawain
Umm, Hello Elder Scrolls?!?

@abe_hikura Oh it totally was, can see this making a lot more people want to get it. Just means we're going to really be ready to pre-order at 8am. Going to have a few sites open in order of preference.

If I was MS I'd be cancelling those exclusive deals for Sony.

Isn't Fallout the only shooter that Bethesda develops, anyway?

Console war never changes.

Imagine what the big Microsoft shows will be like now that they have all these additional studios. You're going to need a 2 hour press conference.

Holy crap, I didn't see it coming

@SolarSailor I agree I don’t think they will stop the big games from coming to other platforms. Too much money to be made from the millions of people gaming on Nintendo and PlayStation. Though I would point out that Minecraft and Wasteland were already coming to other consoles before their studios were bought.

Still, having Doom, Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls and Fallout, among others, would be a tremendous selling point if they were truly exclusive.

Wow, the PushSquare version of this story's comments section is really painful to try to read. I've never seen more sour grapes. One post has declared this is an indication MS is looking to get out of hardware if Series does worse than 360...... giggle

I'm kind of annoyed they announced this right before preorders though. Tomorrows going to be an even worse clusterf than it was before....

@NEStalgia If you pre-order on microsoft.com you should get one even after the first stock sells out.

Microsoft has confirmed that they'll honour the upcoming games that have already arranged to be released on PS5 meaning that they would be restricted to PS5 for a fixed period of time before coming to Xbox (Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo). Future ones will come exclusively to Xbox and Windows. Other consoles to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-21/microsoft-to-buy-bethesda-studios-for-7-5-billion-to-boost-xbox?srnd=technology-vp

@Akimi yes because I didn't expect this...

@MrGawain

Microsoft has tons of variety in their 1st party. But nice try. 🙄

@HotGoomba
I'm still reeling from the news as well.
@KelticDevil
Is it wrong that I'm enjoying the meltdowns over the news? Am I a bad person? I'm a bad person. 😂

Yes, that's big!

I hope this puts an end to Zenimax quest to get into micro-transactions with garbage games like Fallout 76, Elder Scrolls Blades or that horrendous Commander Keen game.

So.... I was trying to compile a list of existing game IPs that MS might own, mostly trying to find old gems that could be resurrected by one of the many studios they own, this what I got so far:

🎮 Doom
🎮 Commander Keen (yea … I know….)
🎮 Deathloop
🎮 Dishonored
🎮 Elder Scrolls
🎮 Fallout
🎮 Ghostwire: Tokyo
🎮 Heretic (could see it back?)
🎮 Hexen (could see it back?)
🎮 Hunted: The Demon's Forge
🎮 Prey
🎮 Quake (could see it back?)
🎮 Rage
🎮 Starfield
🎮 The Evil Within
🎮 Wolfenstein

I am litterally... speechless.

Wow ! Just... wow !

@Akimi

I must be a bad person too then!! Haha! 😂

I like this move! I think it will actually result in better games like they say and obviously more value for gamepass. Big win for gamers from the looks of things. Will see how it pans out a few years down the line.

Gutted as PS fan as prefer the Sony set up, but with plans to go Xbox anyway with Game pass that means all Bethesda games will be included On day 1. How incredible will that be to basically spend next to nothing for so many day 1 AAA games.

I do have slightest concern this may affect quality as there is still talk on how profitable game pass is and that goes bigger now all those AAA games will be wrapped up in game pass without necessarily much extra income for them. Fingers crossed I guess...

@Justifier that would be hilarious actually

@Sylcolene good shout. Absolutely no point in purchasing any Bethesda games anymore. They’ll be on game pass soon!!

That is just unbelievable news, well done to the big MS! I'm so bought into the whole ethos, it's such a good direction.
I'm hoping that they will keep a few exclusive games for 6 or 12 months before they launch with Sony consoles.
See how they like it lol

No point expecting Deatloop or Ghostwire: Tokyo to be simultaneously released now - MS has confirmed all existing deals/contracts will be honoured so those timed exclusives will still be timed.

Just because MS owns these now, doesn't mean that the 'big' franchises will be not release on PS. There is still a massive install base that can be sold to - especially if MS users are getting games through Game Pass.

No doubt these studio's will still be making some Exclusives - look at Grounded by Obsidian and Avowed of course. The wealth of resources and experience now within the MS camp though cannot be underestimated. This strengthens studios like Obsidian and inXile because they can now tap into Bethesda and any other studio to 'help' - even if its just to share information...

That is a two-way thing too with Bethesda now able to call upon any of the other studio's, share 'workloads' even to ensure a 'better' quality experience - especially towards the end of development when you are trying to prepare a game be ready to launch. Its no secret that Bethesda games haven't 'launched' in the best state...

It helps EVERYONE - regardless of size. Smaller studio's often have to try and find solutions themselves, manage Ambition with capability, but they can now draw upon a wealth of talent, expertise, resources etc to 'realise' that ambition and overcome obstacles much easier.

Does everyone else realize what this means (you too, @BlueOcean) - it means Obsidian and inExile. Fargo, Cain, and Uquhart, the two halves of Interplay/Black Isle - the original creators of the Fallout series (the real ones, not the sucky ones)......now actually have access to the real Fallout license again?!?! Fargo tried to get that back in his hands back when he sued Interplay to bankruptcy, resulting in them selling it to Bethesda behind closed doors. Now all the relevant Fallout parties are under one roof with the brand........

@KelticDevil Indeed they are. That was expected. "Buying a $7bn studio indicates MS wants to get out of hardware and go third party" is an unexpected game of mental twister I didn't see coming though

But it doesn't matter, because PS has a remaster of a 2 year old game for $20 with purchase of a new $50 DLC, and remaster of a PS3 game for $70 which somehow in PS circles seems to be the holy grail of all gaming and no other games are needed.... And $70 is more than justified for the exact same game that released 11 years ago, but prettier.

I'm a Playstation fan....but man it's hard to stay positive about that crowd and Sony's position at this point....I keep wondering why I'm buying one. Is it all for Ratchet?

Yes. Yes it is. Darn you, Insomniac!

@BlueOcean Really, did they confirm that? I'm looking to buy 2. I was hoping one of them would be XAA and one outright purchased, and was planning to try the XAA through microsoft.com directly (since XAA takes a while to setup, I was thinking of trying to secure 2 orders through 2 retailers first, then try to do the XAA one, then cancel one of the others. Though that's all optimistic....I'm expecting to secure exactly zero....

If they're confirming that a microsoft one, XAA or otherwise, is a guarantee to arrive when supplies permit, I'd be very happy. I wonder if they're restricting order quantity. Are they cutting off preorders after a certain limit, or taking all orders even if it runs into next year? That would be dreamy, though it sounds unlikely.

@NEStalgia
That's an interesting observation about Fallout. I can't see them making a Fallout game a la Wasteland 3 though because of the overlap. And Elder Scrolls with guns sells quite nicely. I'd more likely see them collaborating on a New Vegas like game. Who knows though, it could happen.

Sony have got their work cut out next gen!

@Porridge2215 i agree with you, they doesn't need to counter sony, but to make bigger playerbase on Xbox so they can make every developer put their games on xbox.

@NEStalgia When I pre-ordered my Xbox One X on microsoft.com they told me that the first stock was sold out and I got my console a bit later when the second stock arrived. I assume that it will be similar for Series S/X but in any case keep the microsoft.com site open!

In between, interesting observation about Fallout.

Oh wow, just when I thought Micorosft was a loss cause. Nice.

So now, Xbox Game Studios include:

343 Industries
World's Edge
The Coalition
Compulsion Games
Double Fine
Xbox Game Studios Publishing
The Initiative
Inxile Entertainment
Mojang Studios
Ninja Theory
Obsidian
Playground Games
Rare
Turn 10
Undead Labs
Bethesda Game Studios
Id Software
ZeniMax Online
Arkane
Machine Games
Tango Gameworks
Alpha Dog
Roundhouse Studios

@Akimi Well the three prongs of Fallout at this point are "Wasteland" (Fallout 1 is the real Wasteland 2, actually) - Obsidian already has experience doing "new" Fallout with the proper "feel" via new Vegas with Bethesda, and of course Bethesda's "survival apocalypse" setting (which loses the entire point of Fallout.) Obviously now that they have the real Fallout brand under their umbrella, I wonder how they're going to manage it. The only reason inExile has been making Wasteland "2" and 3 is because Brian couldn't get to the Fallout license. Of course Bethesda has their own teams and ideas for Fallout, and Obsidian, of course, already did some work with Bethesda on those (and did the best chapter, IMO.)

I can't see continuing B-series Wasteland if it was just filler for Fallout. I can imagine inExile one way or another getting involved in the bigger Fallout projects. Same for Outer Worlds, really, that was created mostly as "Fallout if we can't have Fallout." I can see joining parts of those teams to parts of Bethesda's teams to make Fallout 5. Especially since Bethesda has been stretched too thin and can't make enough of their games fast enough, with TESVI stuck behind Starfield, and Fallout 5 nowhere on radar.....these games need to bulk up on staff, and having resources both to staff up Bethesda, and 2 studios, in house, that know Fallout better than Bethesda's teams do can't hurt, even at a design/information sharing phase. And being able to put Tim Cain on the script, alone, might be tremendous.

@BlueOcean Interesting, I hope they do that this time, then! I'm not counting on it, but it would be nice.

@BlueOcean

So many studios!!! 😁

I just heard the news and my jaw dropped and also my coffee dropped from my hand. This is huge.

@Justifier Indeed. Fallout is an amazing IP, but Bethesda's take on the series is an odd blend of "TES: Apocalypse", "Zombie survival sim", and not very much "Fallout" at all.

I was still a PC gamer when 3 released. Bought the big deluxe kit with the bobblehad and all, was super psyched for it. And then couldn't stand the game. I'm a huge TES fan, but that wasn't Fallout. Fallout isn't so serious. The whole point is that it's wacky and black comedy. There wasn't much comedy at all. It was just a zombie wasteland survival game with a few sardonic touches here and there.

Then New Vegas (Obsidian) arrived and made it Fallout again. Then 4 kind of lost the script again. Then 76...ok, seriously WTF is 76? It supposedly not an MMO but is more an MMO than Zenimax's own TES MMO..... it's all just a survival and crafting sim. It's Animal Crossing with Zombies. MS now has the power to fix Fallout, finally. Something that I never thought possible. I hope they do it!

Just a thought: If ZeniMax/Bethesda owned Halo, they’d have already released the game, as is (and probably loaded with game breaking bugs). You’re getting all of the greatness, but now with a modicum of morality.

Does this mean they’ll fix the game breaking bugs in Rage 2?

@Thretosix Avowed is based on the Pillars of Eternity universe, which was itself based on the Dungeons & Dragons licensed games Obsidian's origin company, Interplay/Black Isle made. Bioware made Dragon Age and Obsidian made Pillars of Eternity. Both were D&D license-less recreations of the Baldur's Gate type games they previously collaborated on at Interplay.

Essentially D&D/PoE/Avowed and TES are directly competing franchises in the same genre, but should have very different feels and overall gameplay setups.

But this means TES, PoE, Wasteland, Fallout, Starfield, Fable, Outer Worlds, all belong to Microsoft now. They pretty much single handedly own every single Western RPG studio except CDPR now. I never imagined I'd think of XBox as "the RPG platform." Also excepting Square-Enix's western studios making Deus Ex and the like.

@KelticDevil But still there are people that say that Xbox has no games 🤣.

@KelticDevil
Are you preordering tomorrow

@NEStalgia
I hadn't considered Fallout 5 being a distant dream under Bethesda. Those are interesting thoughts. It will be interesting to see what happens with Fallout and everything else.

@BlueOcean

I know. Ridiculous, right? Lol

@Dezzy70

I need to get a 4k TV first, so that will be my next purchase. Then I’ll get the XSX. I want a TV that can take advantage of all that power. 👍🏻

@graysoncharles Sony pay for timed exclusives because they can't afford more than that, if they could they'd buy Square Enix.

@KelticDevil
The one x looks good with a 4K tv when out putting native 4K. Very detailed and sharp picture.

@BlueOcean
You preordering tomorrow

@Dezzy70 I am selling my Xbox One X and will buy a Series X. I didn't plan to pre-order Series X but if they are going to be hard to find, I should, right? 😁

@BlueOcean
Well I guess if you want one this year I would have thought so.
I shall be straight on it at 8am series x.

I never planned on getting a PlayStation this generation anyway but wow now I’m even more excited to get the new Xbox series x,this is awesome news

@Dezzy70 OK, I will then 😁.

I'm afraid I won't even sleep tonight....too much stress about trying to get a preorder I probably won't get. It seems silly for just a console...and just getting it at launch. Neurotic even. But iwannitiwannitiwannitsooobaadd!

@BlueOcean They already owned part of Square-Enix. They sold it last year....

@NEStalgia "They already owned part of Square-Enix. They sold it last year..."

Ha ha true.

"Neurotic even."

That doesn't... surprise me? 😄.

@Medic_Alert Exactly. Anyway, I have someone that wants my Xbox One X for a good price so it's a no-brainer, really.

@Medic_Alert I'm single, well, I have kind of a relationship but it's complicated :S so I don't need two Xbox.

The only console I ever bought on launch day was the Dreamcast. 9.9.99. What a day that was. And it had, arguably, the greatest launch lineup ever.

I am so tempted to get a XSX at launch, but my need for a 4k TV is keeping me in check for now. Lol.

DOOM is the only Bethesda franchise I care about but that's the beauty of this deal for MS. Some people like all the games, some will just like Elder Scrolls, or Fallout or DOOM or Evil Within but regardless, especially if you're an RPG fan, there's something here for you. Huge W for MS.

@BlueOcean thanks for the list longer than expected and a few big names really do jump out and shine.
Now we need something really big to happen like Uncharted, The last of us, ratchet &clank
A big exclusive that really slaps you in the face

@Porridge2215 We need Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Piñata the most, games like that that haven't appeared since Xbox 360. I'm sure that The Initiative is creating something like Tomb Raider and Uncharted.

@Porridge2215

I don’t want Xbox to try to copy Sony in terms of 1st party. All of Sony’s first party games are 3rd person, one & done, action/adventure games. And some are kinda open world. They offer crap multiplayer or none at all. Most of them are like interactive movies. They offer no variety.

Microsoft’s first party offers tons of variety & that was even before the Bethesda acquisition. Do they all get 8s & 9s from Metacritic? Nope. But so what? They are still great games that are fun to play. And Xbox has almost every genre covered.

Most of Sony’s studios try to copy the Naughty Dog template. I had a PS3 for years & that got real stale. And their launch lineup just proves my point. They have Spider-Man DLC for $50 & a remake of a PS3 game as their big launch games. Meh.

But I think The Initiative is working on something more akin to what you mean by an Uncharted, etc. And that’s great. I just hope Microsoft continues to realize that not every 1st party game needs to be some crazy expensive Sony-like interactive movie 3rd person game. Lol.

@Gamer83

Yea Bethesda is my favorite 3rd party publisher. I love almost every game they put out. So I was doing back flips when I heard this news.

But to be honest, it wasn’t because of the possible exclusivity to Xbox. And Sony doesn’t have the $ to buy a company like Bethesda. I was more worried about Google, Amazon, etc. buying them & keeping their games locked on their platforms.

Sony fanboys (not you, I know you are a great fan of both companies) hating on Microsoft for this purchase need to relax & get grips on reality. If Microsoft makes them exclusive, you can buy a $300 XSS for Game Pass or play them on PC.

If Google, Amazon, or someone else bought them, they would have to start streaming the games to play them & still play $60-70 per game. Those are the companies Microsoft is probably most concerned about, not Sony.

ago
@BlueOcean @kelticdevil agree with you both, with all those companies we will get diversity, and game pass ultimate will give us variety (so that we don't have to fork out money on games that might not be out first choice but that we get into and surprise ourselves!) I'd never eg buy a racing game but EA NFS yes please lol. Similarly, I'll never buy or enjoy a brawler ever, but it's there for others. So need variety.
But the reason I'm getting a ps5 is cos of those block busters that are story driven (etc), and they are missing from the GPUlt ATM. Great news about The Initiative.
If I want signed up already, I'd be signing up again

@Porridge2215 m

That’s a great point about Game Pass. It gets people to try games that they may not normally try. And that is a huge plus to developers. Indie developers, in particular, have raved about how Game Pass has put their games in front of more people than they had planned.

I get that some AAA publishers don’t like Game Pass bc their games sell anyways based on most of them are sequels (people know what they are buying) & super expensive to make. But Game Pass is great for gamers.

Just think.....we’ll get to play Elder Scrolls VI on day 1 & not have to buy it! That is crazy!

@KelticDevil
Yeah, I'm very concerned about Google and Amazon. As bad as people think MS is, and I've also seen people complain about Sony and Nintendo (I've complained about all 3 about different stuff so I'm not innocent in this), they are nothing compared to Google or Amazon and those two companies could easily force their way in. There's also Tencent to be worried about. All that is why I've been saying MS, Sony and even Nintendo which doesn't make a ton of purchases, should lock up close partners if they have them. Sony can't buy entire publishers but Bluepoint and Housemarque? Get 'em now. Nintendo should for sure purchase Next Level Games, who've done a great job on Nintendo IP like Punch-Out!! and Luigi's Mansion, and should aslo consider Mistwalker or Grasshopper or, if possible, go big and get Platinum.

@Gamer83

I completely agree. I am shocked Sony hasn’t snatched up Bluepoint & Housemarque at this point.

But maybe it’s just like with Microsoft & Moon Studios......maybe they don’t want to bought. Who knows?

But, as usual, you bring up great points. 👍🏻

@KelticDevil
Yeah, that's possible. It took Sony over a decade to convince Ted Price to allow them to acquire Insomniac.

My personal opinion: The Xbox is simply a means to an end, and the days of exclusives are waning! Microsoft seems to believe their future lies in Game Pass, and thus, they are more in the business of publishing, so I am excited to see where this goes.