Microsoft announces acquisition of Bethesda for $ 7.500 billion

Without prior notice and by surprise, it was just known that Microsoft has acquired Bethesda Softworks. The surprise has been great, since we had not even heard rumors about the operation. Microsoft has specifically bought ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company that includes several studios and a large number of franchises, for a sum of 7.500 billion dollars.

Microsoft for some years has been promoting its participation in the video game industry. A few years ago I bought Mojang, developers of Minecraft, one of the most popular games ever. They have now acquired Bethesda, whose games will be added to the Xbox Game Pass subscription. The new games released by Bethesda automatically, as soon as they are launched, will be within the Microsoft platform.

Bethesda's official announcement after being acquired by Microsoft

Within ZeniMax Media we find the following studies:

• Bethesda Game Studios
• ZeniMax Online Studios
• Vir2L Studios
• Mud Duck Productions
• Id Software
• Arkane Studios
• Tango Gameworks
• MachineGames

The deal between Microsoft and ZeniMax, which includes Bethesda, has been billed as 'XBOX + Bethesda'. Clearly Microsoft wants to add the games from Bethesda and other developers purchased to the Xbox Game Pass catalog. This in turn could mean that games from Bethesda and ZaniMax subsidiaries will never make it to consoles like Sony's. It remains in the air to know if the games will reach platforms like Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce Now, or even, the games that are already present, if they will continue to be there. We also do not know if Bethesda or id Software games will remain on Steam, although removing them from this platform could be a great nonsense.

Today we announce that we are joining the Microsoft family

When you work in one place for as long as I have worked in Bethesda (Todd Howard) - just a month under 21 years - you see some things. Chief among them is change. When I started, Bethesda wasn't much more than a handful of people. The team that worked at Morrowind fit into a couple of offices, and there were probably six or seven of us spread out across everything else.

Bethesda Softworks, our parent company ZeniMax Media, and our many in-house studios now employ thousands of talented people working in publishing offices and development studios around the world. We have gone from one internal study to many; from focusing on single-player fantasy RPGs to developing massive MMOs, first-person shooters, and everything in between. The world, our industry, and our company have changed a lot in the 34 years since Bethesda Softworks was founded. Today, it has changed again. And I know that raises questions.

But the key point is that we are still Bethesda. We continue to work on the same games as yesterday, made by the same studios that we have worked with for years, and those games will be published by us.

So why the change? Because it allows us to make even better games in the future. Microsoft is an amazing partner and offers access to resources that will make us better publishers and developers. We think that means better games for you to play. In short, we believe that change is an important part of improvement. We believe in pushing ourselves to be better. To innovate. To grow.

And, we have a long history of working with Microsoft. Our companies share many of the same basic principles. We believe in a culture that values ​​passion, quality, collaboration and innovation. When I think about the first time we decided to go from being a PC-only developer to making Morrowind for the original Xbox, it was a move that countless people said would never work ... no one on consoles wanted such a big and complex game. But Microsoft believed in us and you too. And now RPGs of all shapes and sizes are hugely successful on consoles.

Yes, it's a big change for us, but after taking a minute to absorb the magnitude of this acquisition, we are going to continue doing what we know and love: making great games. We will keep trying new things. We are going to take the same passion that we have put into what we do, and the passion that our community brings to the things we do, and make them even better.

And soon the conversation will move from this agreement to talking about our games again. And I will be able to answer again the questions that excite us all. Tell me more about Deathloop. When will I be able to see more Ghostwire? What's next in the fourth quarter for The Elder Scrolls Online? I want to see more of the DOOM Eternal DLC. WHEN THE HELL WILL YOU TELL ME ABOUT STARFIELD? I'm excited for those conversations and I look forward to talking to you about all of that - and much, much more - in the weeks, months, and years to come.

I believe in the people I work with. I believe in the company that we have created together. I believe in the communities that have formed around the games we make. And I think today's announcement is just the next in a long list of changes in our history that will lead to bigger and better games for all of us.

Pete Hines, Vice President, Public Relations and Marketing Department, Bethesda

Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and its game publisher Bethesda Softworks

More than 3.000 billion people on the planet play games to have fun, escape and connect with humans. Unlike any other medium, games allow people to engage in creativity, strategic thinking, and teamwork, immersing them in interactive worlds and stories created by some of the world's most amazing creators. The cultural phenomenon of gambling has made it the largest and fastest growing form of entertainment in the world, an industry expected to have more than $ 200.000 billion in annual revenue by 2021.

As the gaming industry transforms from a device-centric era to a player-centric era, driven by new technology that provides the freedom to play with friends anywhere and on any device, Microsoft on Monday announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks., one of the largest privately owned game developers and publishers in the world. Creators of critically acclaimed and best-selling game franchises, including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout among many others, Bethesda brings impressive portfolio of games to Xbox, technology, talent, as well as a record of commercial blockbusters. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will acquire ZeniMax Media for $ 7.500 billion in cash.

With unique investments in content, community, and the cloud, Microsoft's gaming strategy differs from others by allowing people to play the games they want, with the people they want, anywhere they want. Games are the main growth engine for games, and games are powering new cloud gaming services like Xbox Game Pass, which has reached a new milestone of more than 15 million subscribers. With the addition of Bethesda, Microsoft to expand from 15 to 23 creative studio teams and add iconic Bethesda franchises to Xbox Game Pass. This includes Microsoft's intention to bring future Bethesda games to Xbox Game Pass on the same day they launch on Xbox or PC, such as Starfield, the highly anticipated new space epic currently in development by Bethesda Game Studios.

“Gaming is the most expansive category in the entertainment industry as people everywhere turn to games to connect, socialize and play with friends,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Differentiated, quality content is driving the growth and value of Xbox Game Pass, from Minecraft to Flight Simulator. As a proven game developer and publisher, Bethesda has found success across every category of gaming, and together, we will further our ambition to empower the more than three billion gamers around the world.”

«This is an amazing time to be an Xbox fan. In the last 10 days alone, we've posted the details of our two new consoles to be pre-ordered tomorrow, we've released cloud games on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and now we're making another investment in the most critical part of our strategy: games“said Phil Spencer, executive vice president of Microsoft Games. “Generations of gamers have been captivated by the renowned franchises in Bethesda’s portfolio and will continue to be so for years to come as part of Xbox.”

The planned acquisition includes publishing offices and development studios around the world with more than 2.300 employees, including Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios. Bethesda's most critically acclaimed and best-selling franchises include The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein, and Dishonored, among others.

Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, was founded in 1999 by President and CEO Robert A. Altman; Bethesda's structure and leadership will continue.

"This is an exciting day for this company, our employees and our fans. We have enjoyed a close association with Microsoft for decades, and this agreement is a natural progression from those years of working together.“The big winners today are our fans,” Altman said. “We’re continuing to build out our AAA game slate, but now with Microsoft’s scale and full stack of games, our games can only get better.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and the completion of the regulatory review. Microsoft expects the acquisition to close in the second half of fiscal 2021 and that has minimal impact on non-AAA operating income in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Unaudited income under GAAP excludes the expected impact of acquisition accounting adjustments, as well as integration and acquisition-related expenses. transaction.