The Game Preview

Xbox has no games? Xbox had* no games.

Earlier this morning, Microsoft announced that Bethesda Games Studios would be joining the Xbox family. According to them, the deal cost $7.5 billion to make and should close sometime in the latter half of next year. A press release was also written up by Phil Spencer himself, where he said

“Today is a special day, as we welcome some of the most accomplished studios in the games industry to Xbox. We are thrilled to announce Microsoft has entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks. As one of the largest, most critically acclaimed, privately held game developers and publishers in the world, Bethesda is an incredibly talented group of 2,300 people worldwide who make up some of the most accomplished creative studios in our industry…”.

All of Bethesda’s owned studios will now be developing first-party IP’s for Microsoft, including “…Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios.” according to the same press statement.

This means that series such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Quake, ESO, Dishonored, Prey, Wolfenstein, The Evil Within, Starfield, and many more will become exclusive to the gradually growing gaming giant’s platforms/services. In addition, all previous Bethesda titles will be made available on Xbox Game Pass as a bonus.

This is a massive win for Microsoft and Xbox exclusive titles, and they were in desperate need of one. Earlier this year, it was heavily rumored that Microsoft would be acquiring WB Games as their flagship studio, but that fell apart when WB decided to keep their gaming division after deeming it too valuable. Besides having Halo, Forza, Gears, and Obsidian, Microsoft didn’t have much to offer compared to Sony’s first party-titles, that is until now. For more updates on the surprise acquisition and all things Xbox, stick around at The Game Preview.