Microsoft Just Bought Bethesda!

[Crazycrab]

https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2020/09/21/microsoft-bethesda-xbox-exclusive-doom-starfield-fallout-elder-scrolls/

 

Many of us have been saying that Microsoft needs more exclusives for the XBox platform, and they seem to agree.  They have acquired a number of studios over the past few years announcing many acquisitions during their 2018 E3 conference like Ninja Theory and Undead Labs.  This time however, they are REALLY throwing their money around by acquiring Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 Billion.  This has given Microsoft a big bin of IP's to rummage around in that include The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Wolfenstein and more.

 

If you're wondering how this affects Bethesda's releases on other platforms like Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4/5, Bethesda has assured that current plans for releases will go ahead as scheduled such as Deathloop remaining a PS5 timed exclusive.  Ather that though it is likely that future releases like Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 may not come out on PlayStation or Nintendo systems.  It's clearly no coincidence that they have announced this right before XBox Series S/X pre-orders become available.

 

So how do you feel about this?  With this new information are you considering the XBox Series X?  Were you thinking of getting a PS5 but are now having second thoughts?

[m76]

This does not help the Xbox series X, any new game/franchise developed under MS is years away. In the middle of the life cycle of this console generation at the earliest.

Or if their plan is to make already in development games XBOX exclusive they are just turning public opinion against themselves. Mine is already against them, due to the shitshow that is the windows store / UWP platform.

[Kane99]

And you have to consider Bethesda's recent track record with many issues, mostly with from Fallout 76 and its many blunders. But, I can see this working to Microsoft's Advantage. 

The selling point for the Xbox Series X is not exclusives, but backwards compatibility and game pass. It, to my knowledge, will play every Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One game, in upgraded resolutions and other fixes. This is huge, because it means we all have a library full of games already at our disposal. Xbox SX isn't going to be about exclusives right away, it's going to be the library. Expect used game sales to rise for Xbox titles.

And Game Pass Ultimate. This means all of these games will be added to Game Pass, if they haven't been already. Game Pass Ultimate is only $14.99 a month. That gets you XBL for the month, game pass across Xbox & PC, EA Access or whatever it's called, and on top of that, free games every month. As well, we may see original exclusives for free on Gamepass once backwards compatibility is fully supported.

Bethesda games may take a while, but like I said, exclusives are not the selling point for Xbox, and they have even stated that recently. I believe Xbox knows what they have, and they're just biding their time. 

[Shagger]

I'm worried about this. If ES6 turns into and Xbox  Brand Exclusive, people are going to be pissed. I hope for their sake Microsoft knows what they're doing.

[DC]

I love this acquisition for both sides, no complaints. It definitely Sony on alert. However, I would have liked to see Bethesda focus on growth and attempt to IPO to the likes of TTWO, Activision, and EA.

[skyfire]

They have acquired pretty heavy studio this time and I am guessing they will make xbox excclusive content in near future. kind of making it harder for gamers to rely on PS 5 alone. now gamers are forced to get xbox too. 

[AndreiMirfi]

Microsoft making people get the Xbox. They are pissed of PS5.

[The Blackangel]

This is going to alienate a lot of gamers. With Bethesda now being owned by Microsoft, they could be forced into making all their games Xbox exclusive. Which could easily tank sales, and possibly bankrupt them. There are people that are die hard loyalists to one system, and no matter how much they love any given franchise, will refuse to consider playing it on another. I've personally met a lot of PlayStation loyalists. Me myself, I have always hated Xbox, but was forced to get an Xbox One because there is a game I wanted desperately that was an Xbox exclusive. Now with Bethesda being the property of Microsoft, they're going to lose a lot of customers. That 7½ billion might feel pretty sweet right now, but it's only going to fuck things up.

Some are going to say that they may offer Sony and Nintendo the option to license games from their company, but how would that really help them? Selling to the competition only to have the competition sell that to make their money back? Just cut out the middle man and give the damn game away.

 

I see nothing but disaster in this.

[Shagger]

37 minutes ago, The Blackangel said:

This is going to alienate a lot of gamers. With Bethesda now being owned by Microsoft, they could be forced into making all their games Xbox exclusive. Which could easily tank sales, and possibly bankrupt them. There are people that are die hard loyalists to one system, and no matter how much they love any given franchise, will refuse to consider playing it on another. I've personally met a lot of PlayStation loyalists. Me myself, I have always hated Xbox, but was forced to get an Xbox One because there is a game I wanted desperately that was an Xbox exclusive. Now with Bethesda being the property of Microsoft, they're going to lose a lot of customers. That 7½ billion might feel pretty sweet right now, but it's only going to fuck things up.

Some are going to say that they may offer Sony and Nintendo the option to license games from their company, but how would that really help them? Selling to the competition only to have the competition sell that to make their money back? Just cut out the middle man and give the damn game away.

 

I see nothing but disaster in this.

 

That's pessimistic, but also very hard to ague with. Bethesda and Zenimax were both pretty safe and stable as businesses before, and I honestly they still all under Microsoft. If anyone is going to suffer over this, it's the fans.

[Shagger]

There's good reason to believe my fears are coming true. According to Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, Microsoft do not need to bring future Bethesda titles to other platforms to make this $7.5Billion deal work for them. PC Gamer Article. This likely means The Elder Scrolls VI and other future Bethesda titles will be Xbox Brand Exclusives.

 

When Sony turned Spiderman into a PlayStation exclusive, I said at the time that whilst I understood how upset people were, I didn't mind it, because it was within Sony's rights as the owner of the IP, and that to make it exclusive made business sense. More importantly and as I expected, in the end, as exclusives tend to be on PlayStation, what we got as a phenomenal game devoid of the usual AAA bullshit.

 

There are few people I hate more than a hypocrite and fully acknowledge how this is about to sound, but this feels different and I don't like it. Xbox has not had the same quality in its exclusive games as Nintendo and PlayStation in recent years. Even the big hitters, like Halo 5 and Forza, Microsoft could not help themselves and included a level of microtransactions and other nonsense that just simply don't appear in PlayStation or Nintendo exclusive games.

 

Then there's Bethesda, it's not the same company that made Skyrim. With Skyrim, they were heroes on top of the world and have published some superb titles in the last few years (Like DOOM), but have taken a huge reputation hit when it comes to their own IP's with a decent, but still very flawed Fallout 4, a very poor early run for The Elder Scrolls Online and nothing short of a catastrophe with Fallout 76. Pair that with Xbox, and I'm a long way from convinced that this will be better for Bethesda's games as a publisher, but especially as a developer. Sony and Nintendo understand that a high quality with exclusive games is important to sell consoles, but I don't think that's Xbox's focus. They want Xbox to become, more than anything else, a gaming brand rather than a gaming console.

 

I will find a way to play TES VI when it comes out I'm sure, so I'm not worried about that, but I'm still concerned about what this will do to the game. I just want them not to fuck this game up.