Microsoft announced earlier today that they will be buying ZeniMax Media for a sum of $7.5 billion towards the second fiscal half of year 2021. The deal comes more than a week after Microsoft was turned down as a bidder for TikTok in America. ZeniMax Media is the parent company of the very well known Bethesda Software Studios. Bethesda has been a leading name in the gaming industry for several years giving back to back market leading franchises. Microsoft earlier announced the inclusion of Bethesda Studios games in their Xbox game pass. This deal becoming public a few months before the market release of their two new upcoming next-gen consoles clearly indicates the strategy to try and bring in new gamers and to shift a few from PlayStation to Xbox.
Microsoft has previously been criticized for the lack of first party games with their Xbox. Sony on the other hand has always had several games to be announced simultaneously with their consoles. In a bid to come back into the competition, Microsoft now can definitely bring more exclusives to their consoles. The deal will include the 2300 employees of ZeniMax and the 8 studios functioning under them. Satya Nadella had called gaming industry “the most expansive category in the entertainment industry,” while stating that over 3 billion people are involved in it.
Microsoft has stated that Bethesda will continue to function as it is currently. Bethesda marketing head Pete Hines stated,”We’re still working on the same games we were yesterday, made by the same studios we’ve worked with for years, and those games will be published by us.” All in all, it is a great news for those planning to spend ₹49,990 on the Xbox Series X releasing this November 10.
