Less than 24 hours before Xbox Series X and Series S pre-orders were set to go live around the world, Xbox made an announcement that has caught everyone in the world of gaming completely off guard. Microsoft has acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of the developer famous for its work on The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Bethesda, for $7.5 billion. Along with Bethesda, Microsoft gained several other new studios as part of this deal as well, such as id Software, MachineGames, Arkane, Tango Gameworks, and ZeniMax Online Studios, just to name a few.
This acquisition could mean big things to come in the world of gaming. By adding Bethesda and its family of studios, Microsoft has seemingly fixed its problem of lacking first-party titles. Xbox is now the proud owner of gaming franchises that some would consider to be the greatest of all time such as DOOM, Prey, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Wolfenstein. And while this is great news for Xbox and Xbox Series X's marketability, it's even better news for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.
Xbox Games Pass was already seen by most as a good deal to begin with; however, the Xbox team seems to be hellbent on making the service as consumer-friendly as possible. It was less than two weeks ago when Xbox had announced a new partnership with EA, telling players that if they were a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, they would be receiving an EA Play subscription at no additional cost. With titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Titanfall 2 available to play on both Xbox consoles and PC for free, it was hard for some players to imagine the subscription service getting much better.
However, this acquisition of Bethesda and its studios seems to show that there was something Xbox could do to sweeten its Game Pass offering. Not only will games like Skyrim and The Evil Within 2 be available for players to play on Game Pass, but future Bethesda games will be available on the service as well. Not only that, but they will be available day one on Game Pass. Players will actually be able to play massive upcoming titles like The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield at launch without purchasing the games.
This new partnership seems to be a win all around for players, Xbox, and Bethesda. Players will now be able to have access to all of Bethesda's games (past, present, and future) as part of one low cost monthly subscription. Xbox now has a full stable of first-party Bethesda franchises that players would likely be willing to move to its platform to play. And Bethesda obtains a devoted partner in Xbox who is willing to assist the studio financially and technologically, such as creating the biggest engine overhaul since Oblivion in anticipation of The Elder Scrolls 6.
However, it's worth pointing out that Microsoft hasn't always had the easiest transitions with its acquisitions. In 2002, Microsoft acquired Rare, the studio who at that time was behind the Banjo-Kazooie series and Perfect Dark among many other classic series that were closely associated with Nintendo. It took Microsoft a long period of time before it seemed like it understood what to do with Rare as a studio, and many fans haven't forgotten how rough that transition was.
Despite that rough transition, however, Rare bounced back and has created many interesting titles on Xbox over the past few years such as Rare Replay, Sea of Thieves, and, most recently, Battletoads. So while it is important to remember stumbles like the Rare acquisition, it's perhaps more important to remember the recovery from the stumble. It seem like players will just have to have faith that Microsoft would likely not spend $7.5 billion on Bethesda if it didn't know what it was doing with it.