Microsoft Acquires Bethesda, A Different Perspective

In what is one of the biggest acquisitions in the recent history of video games, Microsoft has spent 7.5 billion (that’s right, a B) dollars in a move to acquire Bethesda Game Studios, the little publishing company responsible for the likes of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and more. The move comes after months of speculation as to who one of the biggest game makers in the world would target to add to its growing stable of studios. It also acts as an olive branch to those who have been spurned by the Xbox One’s lack of exclusive titles and are looking for a reason to come back into the Microsoft ecosystem.

As is commonplace with a move this massive, gamers are a flutter trying to wrap their minds around the details of the deal. Does this acquisition signal the end of Bethesda games making an appearance on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5? Or is this a move by a Microsoft hungry to bolster its Game Pass library while also continuing to strengthen its revenue stream by selling its games on every single console? While Phil Spencer was quoted as saying that games such as Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo would still be PlayStation 5 timed exclusives, the head of Xbox also added that they’d release titles on platforms other than Xbox on a case by case basis.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about how the future will shake out but we have a few people who think they know a thing or two about the industry. Allow Liana Ruppert and I to answer all of your burning questions and more as we unpack the details of the deal, discuss how Microsoft’s purchase can actually be a good thing for gamers craving more accessibility, and what studio Xbox could target next if the gaming giant wants to turn its one-time purchase into a full-blown spending spree.

If you enjoyed this video, be sure to also check out some of our written work, including what we want from the Microsoft and Bethesda partnership and how Xbox now has an even greater line-up of RPGs than it did before.