In the wake of Microsoft's sudden acquisition of Bethesda, many in the gaming community are unsure of how to feel. Everyone involved in the acquisition deal has assured people that this is the right move for Bethesda, but right now, it's too early to tell. Amidst all of the recent online discussion, one of id Software's co-founders weighed in on the situation.
Todd Howard made a statement regarding Bethesda's move to Microsoft, and was overall excited by the prospect of working with the company. Howard felt that the purchase will open up plenty of opportunities in terms of future projects, given the trajectory of Microsoft's hardware and the development of Bethesda's various titles. Though, Howard isn't the only one who's excited by the recent purchase.
John Carmack is a co-founder of id Software and is the current CTO of Oculus VR. Carmack was directly responsible for work on cult-classic titles like Commander Keen, Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D. He has also had quite an unpleasant history with Bethesda's previous parent company, Zenimax Media. The company sued Carmack back in 2013 for allegedly stealing a Zenimax intellectual property and thousands of internal documents in order to help develop the Oculus. The dispute was settled in 2018, but it's safe to assume that things were still bitter between Zenimax and Carmack.
Thus, Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda comes as great news for Carmack, as Microsoft doesn't hold any grudges against him. When speaking about it on Twitter, Carmack also said that this could be a great opportunity to work on some of Carmack's older series. Though, it's hard to say what that could be in reference to, considering how many titles Carmack has worked on, some of which date all the way back to 1989. Though, it would be strange to see a next-gen Commander Keen game.
There are quite a number of reasons why Xbox buying Bethesda is a good thing. For one thing, it could allow Xbox to finally start to develop exclusive games for the upcoming Xbox Series X. A Bethesda game that is exclusive to Xbox Series X could be a major selling point for many in the gaming community.
Though, on the other hand, there are many that think that this could end poorly in terms of Bethesda. Numerous members of the gaming community have pointed out similarities between this acquisition and the acquisition of Rare back in 2002, which some believe has been under-utilized in the time since. Not to mention the fact that upcoming Bethesda games such as The Elder Scrolls 6 could become Xbox exclusive. The gaming community will just have to wait and see what happens next.