The main deal of this fall. Microsoft Corporation has announced the takeover of the gaming concern ZeniMax Media. The company will cost the owner of Windows and Xbox $ 7.5 billion.
“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft has entered into an agreement to purchase ZeniMax Media,” said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox.
The amount was also announced in the company’s blog.
As a result of the transaction , 2,300 employees of the following studios will be transferred to Microsoft:
- Bethesda Softworks; Bethesda Game Studios;
- id Software;
- ZeniMax Online Studios;
- Arkane;
- MachineGames;
- Tango Gameworks;
- Alpha Dog;
- Roundhouse Studios.
Also, the Redmond company will have at its disposal such franchises as:
- The Elder Scrolls;The Evil Within;
- Fallout;
- Wolfenstein;
- DOOM;
- Dishonored;
- Prey;
- Quake;
- Starfield;
- and many others.
Details of the transaction are still unknown. Microsoft itself only reports that all new products from Bethesda from the first day of sales will be available in the Xbox Game Pass. Completion of the transaction is scheduled for the second half of fiscal 2021.
Initially, the amount of the transaction was reported by Bloomberg. It also clarified that this is the largest Microsoft gaming deal in its history. Before that, the largest purchase in 2014 was Minecraft for $ 2.5 billion. After that, the company bought less expensive assets. For example, among the six studios that Microsoft bought in 2018 were Obsidian and inXile.
By the way, in light of the fact that Bethesda and Obsidian now belong to the same company, it became possible for Fallout: New Vegas 2 to appear. The author of the book “Blood, Code and Pixels” Jason Schreier writes about this on Twitter. He also notes that after the ZeniMax takeover, there was a situation in which Microsoft publishes two temporary PlayStation 5 exclusives.
Most likely, the transition of ZeniMax into new hands will not affect them, but as long-term partners of Sony, of course, Bethesda is losing.
“High—quality and differentiated content is the engine that ensures the growth of Xbox Game Pass. Being a cool developer and publisher of games, Bethesda has performed well in all categories of games. Now, through joint efforts, we will be able to expand the capabilities of more than 3 billion gamers worldwide,” he said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
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