On September 21st Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion. ZeniMax Media is the holding company behind Bethesda, which is mostly known for their cult games Doom, the Fall Out franchise, The Elder Scrolls Online as well as Dishonored. By acquiring Bethesda Microsoft is not only looking to solve some of their problems, but also added another game studio to their payroll, now totalling 23 game studios.
What changes for me?
If you have bought any of those titles in the past, nothing is going to change for you, however; if you have not played any of these amazing games, but you are the holder of the xbox game pass, my friend is in luck! Microsoft confirmed that all Bethesda titles will slowly be moved to their subscription service, the xbox game pass. Doom will be the first title to join the service in October. Furthermore Microsoft said that future Bethesda titles will be added to the game pass on the same day they release for the xbox as well as PC.
Microsoft was struggling in the past with xbox exclusive titles, or better said, the lack of xbox exclusives. Acquiring Bethesda will solve this problem for Microsoft and will put them on the same page with Sony’s playstation exclusives.
Most of Bethesda’s games are single player games with an extremely loyal player base. Microsoft is looking to drive these players towards their platform and is now forcing new customers to join their platform if they want to play these cult games.
Potential issues
Jaybur brought to our attention one problem that he sees with this acquisition. “What if Microsoft buying Bethesda is going to open up a war between Sony and Microsoft, buying up all game studios and essentially dividing up all games between their platforms?’
Let us know what you think about this problem down in the comments below!
At the first glance this problem seems realistic. Microsoft is adding more and more game studios to their payroll slowly building a portfolio of exclusive titles. If we know anything with high certainty it is that companies like to start bidding wars, or in this case buying wars, trying to even the score with their competitors and draw ahead. I personally do not think this will be an issue in the future and as you can see in the podcast, we all, and judging by Microsoft’s interviews, all agree that mobile gaming is the future, but to that more in a little bit.
Will Kojima come back?
When the news about Microsoft buying Bethesda hit the public the video game industry began to whisper. Rumors started to spread and players almost demanded Sony to acquire Kojima Productions and bring back the horror games. It is no secret that Hideo Kojima and Sony have a strong relationship, however; as of now these are just rumors.
There are many hints suggesting that Sony will buy Kojima Productions. For one the rumors about Sony’s new horror game, potentially also being a playstation exclusive releasing with the new generation of consoles later this year.
For all we know nothing has been confirmed by either Kojima or Sony yet, but don’t we all dream of a new horror game made by Hideo Kojima or even a Silent Hill Remastered.
Is Mobile Gaming The Future?
If you have made it this about half way through our podcast episode, you saw how I just threw mobile gaming into the mix and how it turned into a really heated debate within seconds, my apologies. We all agree that mobile gaming is the future and no matter how much EndWar07 or I, GermanLuk, tried to argue our point, mobile gaming will at some point be the future of all gaming worldwide. Seifer really quickly ended our debate if or how mobile gaming will take the lead, by simply throwing out facts. The facts are that developing mobile games are a lot cheaper than developing PC or console games, therefore making it a way better ROI, Return On Investment, for game studios to focus on mobile gaming.
Phil Spencer said this himself in multiple interviews with news outlets. Mobile gaming is the future and xbox is working to bring all titles to mobile as well and work with Apple and Google to bring the games to mobile. Spencer did not confirm when, how, or with what sacrifices this will happen, but it will happen.
What do you think? Will mobile gaming take over gaming in general? Will we see consoles and PCs go out of business? Let us know down in the comments below and as always, have a nice day!
