It has been less than six months after the announcement of the $7.5 billion proposed acquisition, Bethesda Softworks and its parent company Zenimax Media are now officially a part of Microsoft. Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that “some new titles in the future” will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players.
The deal was agreed between the two companies in September last year, but its scale raised the potential for problems with gaining approval from regulatory bodies. Last week, the European Commission decided not to oppose the deal. With today’s confirmation, it is clear that the SEC has also allowed the acquisition to go ahead.
“Now that everything is official, we can begin working together to deliver more great games to everyone,” said Xbox boss Phil Spencer in a statement.
As a reminder, Microsoft now owns Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios.
Upcoming projects as well as The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield include an Indiana Jones game from Wolfenstein developer MachineGames plus two timed exclusives for PlayStation 5: Arkane’s Deathloop and Tango Gameworks’ Ghostwire: Tokyo.
“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.
As we shared previously, it’s vitally important that Bethesda continues making games the way it always has. We look forward to empowering Bethesda’s creative teams to reach even more players around the world, helping make future Bethesda titles the biggest and most popular games in their history. Xbox and Bethesda have long shared a common vision for the future of gaming. Both as fans and as creators, Bethesda understands the potential of Xbox Game Pass.”
Microsoft announced its intention to acquire ZeniMax Media last September. The purchase spawned widespread speculation about Bethesda and Xbox’s plans, mainly around whether future games from the companies would be released on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. Microsoft said it would evaluate future releases on a case-by-case basis, and would honor existing exclusivity deals.