techpowerup Microsoft Announces Acquisition of Bethesda Parent Company ZeniMax Media

[axipher]

Quote

Microsoft today dropped a giant bomb on the balance of game development: the company announced the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, and all its related IP. The purchase, which is expected to close for a tidy $7.5 billion, will carry over all ZeniMax Media subsidiaries. This includes Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout), id Software (DOOM), Arkane Studios (Prey, Dishonored, upcoming Deathloop), MachineGames (Wolfenstein), among others.

The deal is the costliest acquisition for Microsoft (to date) in its push to increase the number of in-house development studios (up to 23 from 15 prior to this deal), and this is a huge move that shakes up the industry balance. Microsoft has announced that as part of the deal, games published by ZeniMax Media and subsidiaries (and in the future, by Microsoft) will be available on its Xbox Games Pass subscription service for Xbox and PC gaming. Microsoft is acquiring some of the most iconic gaming franchises ever with this deal, including all in-development IP. It's a huge boon for the company; it remains to be seen exactly how will this evolve over the years. But one thing is for certain: Microsoft isn't slowing down on its doubling down on game development.

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[Supercrumpet]

Saw this a bit ago, the first implication/question out of this that springs to mind for me is what will happen as far as the MS Store vs Bethesda launcher.

[axipher]

3 minutes ago, Supercrumpet said:

Saw this a bit ago, the first implication/question out of this that springs to mind for me is what will happen as far as the MS Store vs Bethesda launcher.

It's going to give Microsoft a lot of cards to play:

• Better DirectX support
• Hard requirements for Windows 10 (this could be good for Linux gaming too though with Microsoft's recent focus on supporting a lot of Linux things)
• Turning the Windows 10 MS store into a competitor for other game store platforms (Steam, Epic Games, Activision/Blizzard, etc.)
• Better Windows Integrations (Game Mode, or something like Games for Windows Live)

[schuck6566]

Heh,MY first thought was that there might be some more XBOX exclusives than PS exclusives in the future.Also a better quality of them. Will still be hard to beat the uncharted games,but these could provide a start....(edit:NOT the fallouts,anything but the last couple of them...)

Edited September 22, 2020 by schuck6566

[ENTERPRISE]

16 hours ago, axipher said:

It's going to give Microsoft a lot of cards to play:

• Better DirectX support
• Hard requirements for Windows 10 (this could be good for Linux gaming too though with Microsoft's recent focus on supporting a lot of Linux things)
• Turning the Windows 10 MS store into a competitor for other game store platforms (Steam, Epic Games, Activision/Blizzard, etc.)
• Better Windows Integrations (Game Mode, or something like Games for Windows Live)

Agree with all of them, but what do you mean by "Hard requirements for Windows 10" Are you talking about OS compatibility baseline starting at Windows 10 and not any lower (Windows 7 etc) ?

[axipher]

7 minutes ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Agree with all of them, but what do you mean by "Hard requirements for Windows 10" Are you talking about OS compatibility baseline starting at Windows 10 and not any lower (Windows 7 etc) ?

Yeah, Microsoft could lock all the games and new ones to requiring Windows 10 to "help force upgrades to Windows 10" from all those users still on Windows 7.  This would be easy if they just put them all as Windows Store apps, but that would also require packaging the games up as UWP's, but if that gets more users on Windows 10, I wouldn't put it past them.

 

Windows 7 is long in the tooth and has way more exploits then Windows 10 even though Windows 10 is far from perfect as well.

 

I can understand some people needing to stick on Windows 7 for certain programs maybe, but you could also just grab Windows 10 and use VMWare or something to run a Windows 7 VM or dual-boot.

[ENTERPRISE]

2 hours ago, axipher said:

Yeah, Microsoft could lock all the games and new ones to requiring Windows 10 to "help force upgrades to Windows 10" from all those users still on Windows 7.  This would be easy if they just put them all as Windows Store apps, but that would also require packaging the games up as UWP's, but if that gets more users on Windows 10, I wouldn't put it past them.

 

Windows 7 is long in the tooth and has way more exploits then Windows 10 even though Windows 10 is far from perfect as well.

 

I can understand some people needing to stick on Windows 7 for certain programs maybe, but you could also just grab Windows 10 and use VMWare or something to run a Windows 7 VM or dual-boot.

Ahhh right you are going from that standpoint. I thought you were taking the angle that Windows 10+ support only would ensure better game performance, though thinking about it that argument is also valid lol.

[schuck6566]

Also in regards to Direct X support, DX12Ultimate is a Win 10 update and in the xbox series s & x consoles. "As for gamers, the Windows introduction of 12_2 is set to occur in the next couple of months, when Microsoft ships their next big Windows 10 feature update, Windows 10 version 2004 (also known as 20H1). And while games using the new feature level will be slow to trickle out (like any new feature level launch), it does mean that gamers will need to stick to the latest Windows to use it. Holding back a version or two (as some of us are want to do) means no DX12U for you."  and  https://www.wepc.com/news/directx-12-supports-next-gen-graphics/

[schuck6566]

ROTFL, was reading that PS was in talks with Bethesda about a couple of game exclusives before the microsoft purchase.If they did conclude them I had this conversation pop up in my mind. "PS: We have a problem with the game,it needs a patch to fix it so the players can reach lvl 43 on some consoles/situations.  Bethesda: Umm,Did U not get the memo? Only if an issue is effecting Microsoft systems does it rate a hotfix.ALL other patches get released on Patch tuesday which was yesterday.So your players will have to wait until next month for the release."