Microsoft has officially announced that it is acquiring Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studios, in a move that has clearly blindsided the gaming industry. The acquisition made was first reported by Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, before Microsoft officially broke the news.
According to the official newsletter, Microsoft is purchasing all of Zenimax Media’s studios for a handsome sum of US$7.5 billion (~RM31 billion). With its procurement, all Zenimax game franchises – including DOOM, The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, and Dishonored, to name a few – will now be released under Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios.
The acquisition is undoubtedly a major shock to many in the gaming world, and as now, Microsoft’s action has cast a shadow over all titles that will be released by Zenimax’s studios in the future. It also doesn’t help that Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, fell short of making that point clear in his official statement.
It’s also unclear whether or not all new Zenimax titles will be made available for Sony’s PlayStation 5 (PS5).
