Microsoft announces they've completed their acquisition of ZeniMax

D

Delicieuxz

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Following approval from the EU yesterday (thanks jfreund) for the $7.5 billion acquisition, Microsoft has today announced that they now own ZeniMax.


Officially Welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox
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.
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As said in the press release, included in the sale are:

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

This acquisition seems to bring Microsoft's total number of game studios to 23.


BethesdaAndXbox_HERO.jpg




I'm hoping for another Obsidian Fallout, and more regular title releases for Bethesda IPs. Maybe Microsoft will have multiple studios contribute to future TES and Fallout games to get them released more regularly.
 
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Yar, definitely a smart move by MS. Biggest hurdle for them last gen was their lack of first party exclusive presence.

Spencer also confirmed that 'some' titles will be exclusive to Xbox and PC. My guess being online-only games (Elder Scrolls Online, FO 76) will be multi-platform, and the big mainline singleplayer titles (Elder Scrolls 6, DooM) will be exclusive.

Delicieuxz said:
I'm hoping for another Obsidian Fallout,
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Second this. I'd love to see Obsidian *and* InExile co-develop a new Fallout title (get that Interplay crew back together).
 
I'm hoping they actually put some of that IP to good use, they have some talent in there and if they pooled it they could do some great things.
 
I felt a disturbance of the PC Master Race. It's as if a bunch of PC gamers are crying because Zenimax games will be exclusive to Xbox.
 
DukenukemX said:
I felt a disturbance of the PC Master Race. It's as if a bunch of PC gamers are crying because Zenimax games will be exclusive to Xbox.
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XBox and PC.... probably a 6-month delay to PS. Microsoft made it pretty clear that they want some PC exclusives and from what I have seen they have actually been working with Valve for distribution which is weird. WTF...
 
DukenukemX said:
I felt a disturbance of the PC Master Race. It's as if a bunch of PC gamers are crying because Zenimax games will be exclusive to Xbox.
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Maybe this will help fix the derailment of good franchises from the gutter they were heading. Maybe.... (looking at you Fallout and Wolfenstein)
 
Lakados said:
XBox and PC.... probably a 6-month delay to PS. Microsoft made it pretty clear that they want some PC exclusives and from what I have seen they have actually been working with Valve for distribution which is weird. WTF...
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Not really, consider how large the Steam user base is....why not distribute on something how many millions of people already have installed...
 
I'm mixed on this. On one hand these are some of the biggest gaming IPs that will now become exclusive. I'm not a fan of that idea. On top of that, I see this as a restart of the exclusive wars. I was happy when it was dying down. If huge games like Fallout and Ender Scrolls don't come to Playstation I can see Sony stopping their PC release plans, or at least greatly scaling them back. PS was beating Xbox largely because of exclusives.

Microsoft also has a history of running IPs into the ground. If they take a hands off approach it can be good. Otherwise, I just see Fallout/ES games every few years without any good improvements.
 
Flogger23m said:
I'm mixed on this. On one hand these are some of the biggest gaming IPs that will now become exclusive. I'm not a fan of that idea. On top of that, I see this as a restart of the exclusive wars. I was happy when it was dying down. If huge games like Fallout and Ender Scrolls don't come to Playstation I can see Sony stopping their PC release plans, or at least greatly scaling them back. PS was beating Xbox largely because of exclusives.

Microsoft also has a history of running IPs into the ground. If they take a hands off approach it can be good. Otherwise, I just see Fallout/ES games every few years without any good improvements.
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How would that differ from now???
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
Maybe this will help fix the derailment of good franchises from the gutter they were heading. Maybe.... (looking at you Fallout and Wolfenstein)
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I liked Fallout 4, to the point where I played it multiple times. Fallout 76 as bad as it is, should be a lesson to Bethesda in what their customers want. Hopefully we'll get a Fallout 5 soon. Wolfenstein went woke and got broke. I think the previous Wolfenstein titles were woke enough but Youngblood went too far. It's like someone at the PR department wanted to put women into the game but wanted to turn them into bros, without realizing that nobody likes a bro. A female bro is just as bad, if not worse. Usually when woke is introduced then it's because they knew the game was bad and hoped the wokeness would increase sales.

Maybe Microsoft will get Bethesda back on track to making good games but I think Bethesda is already doing it thanks to the failures that are Fallout 76 and Younblood.


 

'Some' Bethesda Games Will Be Xbox/PC Exclusives Under Microsoft​

In an article on Xbox Wire welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox, Spencer wrote the following: "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."
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/09/officially-welcoming-bethesda-to-the-xbox-family/
https://www.ign.com/articles/some-bethesda-games-will-be-xboxpc-exclusives-under-microsoft
 
UnknownSouljer said:

'Some' Bethesda Games Will Be Xbox/PC Exclusives Under Microsoft​

In an article on Xbox Wire welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox, Spencer wrote the following: "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."
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/09/officially-welcoming-bethesda-to-the-xbox-family/
https://www.ign.com/articles/some-bethesda-games-will-be-xboxpc-exclusives-under-microsoft
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Not a big fan of exclusives. How will Playstation 5 owners know that PC is superior if they can't play these games at inferior quality? Also, who's to say that Microsoft won't turn against PC, like they've done many times before. How long did it take for Microsoft to release Halo games onto Windows?
 
I'm not overly concerned about MS running Bethesda into the ground. I can't see Bethesda moving too far away from their bread and butter IP's acquisition or not, and I can't see MS pushing Bethesda to 'try something new'; Or rushing out releases when Bethesda already has a decent release schedule.

I'm also hoping, since Xbox includes KB+M support, we start seeing Bethesda putting more effort into a KB+M friendly UI. It made sense to favour the gamepad when the bulk of their sales were consoles, but now that Playstation is out of the picture and the focus is PC/XBox maybe we'll see a more PC friendly UI.


GoldenTiger said:
32 posts since 2007 and one of them is this odd nonsense?
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Best not to attempt understanding of vikingboy's inner intricacies.
 
DukenukemX said:
I liked Fallout 4, to the point where I played it multiple times. Fallout 76 as bad as it is, should be a lesson to Bethesda in what their customers want. Hopefully we'll get a Fallout 5 soon. Wolfenstein went woke and got broke. I think the previous Wolfenstein titles were woke enough but Youngblood went too far. It's like someone at the PR department wanted to put women into the game but wanted to turn them into bros, without realizing that nobody likes a bro. A female bro is just as bad, if not worse. Usually when woke is introduced then it's because they knew the game was bad and hoped the wokeness would increase sales.

Maybe Microsoft will get Bethesda back on track to making good games but I think Bethesda is already doing it thanks to the failures that are Fallout 76 and Younblood.
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I completely agree with you. I enjoyed Fallout 4, maybe with some exception of the constant Preston engagement. Hated 76. Wolfenstein New Order was great, backtracked with New C then derailed into the abyss with Youngblood.
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
I completely agree with you. I enjoyed Fallout 4, maybe with some exception of the constant Preston engagement. Hated 76. Wolfenstein New Order was great, backtracked with New C then derailed into the abyss with Youngblood.
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Was Fallout 4 better than New Vegas or Fallout 3? Probably not, but it was still a good game. I'd like the karma system brought back and to make my decisions matter to the ending of the game in Fallout 5, but Fallout 4 wasn't bad. Wolfenstein New Order was fine, but not a game I'll play again. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus was when the wokeness started when someone thought that I wanted to see a topless pregnant woman take down a robot dog covered in blood. Maybe to spread the message that pregnant women kickass and look good while giving the 14 year olds their titties? Then there's Youngblood which I never played and will never play. I have no free time for shitty games.

 
Lakados said:
Yeah but for how long was Valve pushing the whole "Win 10 and its store is the devil
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This isn't a thing.

Win8 early days and it's (failed) Metro/tablet takeover store push was a different story though- it concerned a hell of a lot of publishers - but then that's nearly a decade old news.
 
Lakados said:
XBox and PC.... probably a 6-month delay to PS. Microsoft made it pretty clear that they want some PC exclusives and from what I have seen they have actually been working with Valve for distribution which is weird. WTF...
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That's a good thing re. distribution on Steam. The M$ store is terrible about installing games on disks that aren't the one you selected during the installation settings management, is frequently slow and bugs out for days or weeks before eventually installing things. Steam has been reliable for years.
 
I hope they'll still put love into the single player stuff. MS will find a way to pimp azure platform usage, which the poor SP players have no need for.
 
SecretStash said:
I hope they'll still put love into the single player stuff. MS will find a way to pimp azure platform usage, which the poor SP players have no need for.
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If they’ve learned anything from watching EA completely backtrack on their mission statement then they will.
 
DukenukemX said:
Was Fallout 4 better than New Vegas or Fallout 3? Probably not, but it was still a good game. I'd like the karma system brought back and to make my decisions matter to the ending of the game in Fallout 5, but Fallout 4 wasn't bad. Wolfenstein New Order was fine, but not a game I'll play again. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus was when the wokeness started when someone thought that I wanted to see a topless pregnant woman take down a robot dog covered in blood. Maybe to spread the message that pregnant women kickass and look good while giving the 14 year olds their titties? Then there's Youngblood which I never played and will never play. I have no free time for shitty games.

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I had no idea Wolfenstein had gone full retard. Won't be buying any of those, no matter how cheap.
 
Can we get this back on track to focus on the implications for Bethesda? Kinda done with overly fragile people refusing to play solid games for silly reasons (mainly The New Colossus, Youngblood wasn't that great in general).

I'm hoping Bethesda isn't too eager to pursue Xbox exclusives, but I won't fault the company for embracing at least some of them. Money talks.
 
Aurelius said:
Can we get this back on track to focus on the implications for Bethesda? Kinda done with overly fragile people refusing to play solid games for silly reasons (mainly The New Colossus, Youngblood wasn't that great in general).
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Games they are. Solid games they are not. The gameplay in recent Wolfenstein games isn't exactly compelling. Youngblood was just exceptionally bad and it speaks to the quality of the games we're seeing from Bethesda lately. Will Microsoft fix this or make this worse? The only thing fragile here is Wolfenstein's profitability.


I'm hoping Bethesda isn't too eager to pursue Xbox exclusives, but I won't fault the company for embracing at least some of them. Money talks.
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This is concerning since Microsoft seemed like they were opening up to other platforms instead of just focusing on Xbox. If money talks then Microsoft would focus on selling their games on other platforms like they did with the Xbox One generation. As a PC gamer this could also work against me as well, since Microsoft has not been known to support Windows gamers for some time. Recently they have but it's really recent and Xbox One did really badly. If Xbox One didn't do as bad as it did I feel that Windows wouldn't be getting Halo games and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
 
The RPG mechanics sucked, but that can be said for 8-9 out of 10 games that are RPGs or have RPG mechanics. The list is endless for games that suffer from having leveling/scavenging. The characters sucked, as did the story. For the endless repeating side missions you can skip them. Those are common in most games that these people probably liked, like Fallout 4, or Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

The semi open map design was fine. There were different ways to approach and area and the missions would take you to slightly different places. Movement and shooting was fine, aside from the RPG mechanics which sucked. Rest of the game was fine.

It wasn't a great game, but was a good middle of the road experience. It was essentially a standalone DLC much like The Old Blood (which I didn't like). I think they should make a more linear game like The New Order again and drop the RPG stuff. RPGs are boring 90% of the time. They're only fun because of other elements.
 
Flogger23m said:
The RPG mechanics sucked, but that can be said for 8-9 out of 10 games that are RPGs or have RPG mechanics. The list is endless for games that suffer from having leveling/scavenging. The characters sucked, as did the story. For the endless repeating side missions you can skip them. Those are common in most games that these people probably liked, like Fallout 4, or Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
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Endless side missions are the worst. In The New Colossus I didn't even know where the hub was to access the side missions until near the end of the game, at which point I avoided them just to get the game over with. I lost out on a lot of upgrades but the idea of going back to areas I cleared just to get upgrades wasn't for me. As for RPG mechanics I don't remember them. Its been a while since I played that game but if I can't remember any RPG mechanics then they weren't anything special to remember. Which means the RPG mechanics weren't good or bad, just wasn't memorable.
It wasn't a great game, but was a good middle of the road experience. It was essentially a standalone DLC much like The Old Blood (which I didn't like). I think they should make a more linear game like The New Order again and drop the RPG stuff. RPGs are boring 90% of the time. They're only fun because of other elements.
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Any game that's a good "middle of the road experience" is a bad game in my opinion. Mediocre games are the new bad games, because there's a good chance that some other game did what you're doing better, probably years ago. Doom Eternal was a good game because it didn't copy previous Doom games, nor did it do what any other game did before it. What other fps game do you remember where you have to bounce around a map fighting extremely hard demons while going in for a melee kill to maintain your health, while double jumping monkey barring your way around the map? Where as recent Wolfenstein games are so generic that you might mistaken it for some other better games.

As for what Microsoft can do about these IP's for the future, I just hope that Microsoft has a guy that can recognize talent and know how to put together a team that can make some good games. One of the biggest problems I have with the gaming industry is who is making the games? Fallout New Vegas for example had a lot of the people who made the original Fallout games and that's why that game was so amazing. Changing up the team of developers really needs to stop because the original creators of a successful IP are probably going to be the best at making sequels to that IP.
 
DukenukemX said:
As for what Microsoft can do about these IP's for the future, I just hope that Microsoft has a guy that can recognize talent and know how to put together a team that can make some good games. One of the biggest problems I have with the gaming industry is who is making the games? Fallout New Vegas for example had a lot of the people who made the original Fallout games and that's why that game was so amazing. Changing up the team of developers really needs to stop because the original creators of a successful IP are probably going to be the best at making sequels to that IP.
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The recently departed CEO of Zenimax was known for discounting the importance of talent in game development. The results of that approach are probably most evident in the trajectory of Bethesda and their current management staff. If Microsoft can reverse that, it will be good for the industry and for gamers.
 
jfreund said:
The recently departed CEO of Zenimax was known for discounting the importance of talent in game development. The results of that approach are probably most evident in the trajectory of Bethesda and their current management staff. If Microsoft can reverse that, it will be good for the industry and for gamers.
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Microsoft doesn't have a good track record of keeping talent from studios they have purchased. Maybe Zenimax is so bad that Microsoft looks good in comparison, but then there's Rareware. How I miss Rareware.

 
UnknownSouljer said:

'Some' Bethesda Games Will Be Xbox/PC Exclusives Under Microsoft​

In an article on Xbox Wire welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox, Spencer wrote the following: "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."
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/09/officially-welcoming-bethesda-to-the-xbox-family/
https://www.ign.com/articles/some-bethesda-games-will-be-xboxpc-exclusives-under-microsoft
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Watch the followup. Only games that have prior contractual obligations will see release on other platforms, like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Phil said in the followup interview that future Bethesda titles outside those obligations will be exclusive to Game Pass platforms (Xbox, PC, mobile, streaming). It's funny that people still think franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout are "too big to be exclusive."

 
Armenius said:
Watch the followup. Only games that have prior contractual obligations will see release on other platforms, like Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Phil said in the followup interview that future Bethesda titles outside those obligations will be exclusive to Game Pass platforms (Xbox, PC, mobile, streaming). It's funny that people still think franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout are "too big to be exclusive."

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I was going to post all of the followup interviews, there is stuff posted before that "official roundtable" video, but considering this thread was moving like molasses - it's only news if people care.
I also kinda don't care either. There are precious few studios that Microsoft has that I actually care about.

If they take away Fallout from Bethesda and give it back to Obsidian (Bethesday ruined Fallout as far as I'm concerned) and Obsidian themselves, and Arkane - and that's pretty much it. id Software also somewhat matters to me, although I haven't really been interested in a title since Quake 4 (maybe Rage 1).
Everything else is pretty meh and I don't think anyone on these boards really even cares about this acquisition because it doesn't really affect them anyway. Most people here are Windows users and would probably play every Zenimax (and subsidiaries) game on Windows.

It only makes a slightly bigger difference for me because I'm not really a Windows user and it will be increasingly difficult to play any of these titles (although that writing was on the wall due to Zenimax and Bethesda policies. Obsidian and id Software were both devs that released everything on macOS - after being purchased neither did anymore - the shift in management was immediate). Except again, I don't think that there is anything in these acquisitions that I would consider to be a must play.
 
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