Microsoft acquires Zenimax/Bethesda
- Thread starter Senua
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Postaldude40
Neo Member
So how many of the talented Developers at Bethesda will be moved to The Initiative ....
A.Romero
Member
If it was just like that, there wouldn't be any exclusives at all and all three of them would be publishing their first party offerings on all platforms and we all know is not like that.
Don't worry, for people not willing to spend on a Xbox console or a PC there is still Xcloud. Games will be playable from many other devices which will probably exist in any household.
replicant-
Member
Lovelygamer
Banned
John Carmack is pleased that Bethesda has been taken over by Microsoft, perhaps returning to his titles
nintendosmash.com
John Carmack is pleased that Bethesda has been taken over by Microsoft, perhaps returning to his titles
On September 21, Microsoft announced that ZeniMax Media, along with all of its game development studios, will join It in 2021. These include, among others, Bethesda, Arkane, Tango Gameworks, and id Software, a studio co-founded by John Carmack. After that, Carmack tweeted that Microsoft will...
nintendosmash.com
TheAssist
Member
Soooo, lets say gamepass doesnt cost them anything. And they get 10 dollars per user and month. At 15 million users that would mean within 4.1 years gamepass has financed this purchase. Lets be a bit more realistic and say they get 2 dollars per user and month from gamepass as actual profit. That means it GP will have paid for this within 20 years. Or 10 if they can double the amount of users with this move.
Of course they hope that these games are profitable by themselves. But not really enough to make up for 7.5 billion. Its interesting.
Personally my complaint about this move is that its not diverse enough. Sure a lot of people like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, but that population also has a big overlap. Would have been nice if they used that money to diversify a bit more. They cater very much to the typical american and with Bethesda american and European taste. I mean it makes sense, those are the biggest markets right now.
But with china rising I thought they'd maybe try to get something that also satisfies the asian markets.
Of course they hope that these games are profitable by themselves. But not really enough to make up for 7.5 billion. Its interesting.
Personally my complaint about this move is that its not diverse enough. Sure a lot of people like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, but that population also has a big overlap. Would have been nice if they used that money to diversify a bit more. They cater very much to the typical american and with Bethesda american and European taste. I mean it makes sense, those are the biggest markets right now.
But with china rising I thought they'd maybe try to get something that also satisfies the asian markets.
ZehDon
Gold Member
Wild. I believe this is the largest acquisition in the history of video games. Not bad for a Tuesday morning, I suppose.
On topic: it doesn't change the immediate future - going into launch, Xbox still has a games drought, and its required by law to honour all previous contracts, so exclusives like Deathloop remain exclusive. But... this? This flips the tea table like nothing before it. A deal this big would require corporate to sign off on - Satya Nadella would've had to OK this. Which means Microsoft know this turns a profit for their gaming division. Microsoft are doubling down on Xbox and playing the long game. This is OG Xbox levels of commitment.
Personal thoughts: Sony have their patented cinematic third person action games, and they have the best in the world at making those games. But, I can only play so many cinematic third person action games before I just don't care. Microsoft now have, in no particular order, the best first person shooters ever made, world class racers, world class western RPGs - basically all of them, at this point, platformers, RTS games, MMOs, GaaS, third person action games, horror games, and a raft of smaller and experimental titles, not to mention one offs like Flight Simulator. With Microsoft's lineup... I'm not sure I'll have a reason to turn off my Xbox unless its to turn on my PC.
Fuck me. This really is massive.
On topic: it doesn't change the immediate future - going into launch, Xbox still has a games drought, and its required by law to honour all previous contracts, so exclusives like Deathloop remain exclusive. But... this? This flips the tea table like nothing before it. A deal this big would require corporate to sign off on - Satya Nadella would've had to OK this. Which means Microsoft know this turns a profit for their gaming division. Microsoft are doubling down on Xbox and playing the long game. This is OG Xbox levels of commitment.
Personal thoughts: Sony have their patented cinematic third person action games, and they have the best in the world at making those games. But, I can only play so many cinematic third person action games before I just don't care. Microsoft now have, in no particular order, the best first person shooters ever made, world class racers, world class western RPGs - basically all of them, at this point, platformers, RTS games, MMOs, GaaS, third person action games, horror games, and a raft of smaller and experimental titles, not to mention one offs like Flight Simulator. With Microsoft's lineup... I'm not sure I'll have a reason to turn off my Xbox unless its to turn on my PC.
Fuck me. This really is massive.
Camreezie
Member
He is the biggest Microsoft cockgobbler there is, I'm not surprised
Slings and Arrows
Banned
It's not that cut and dry. None of the other console owners have ever owned a digital service like gamepass. This is new in the realms of the gaming industry. In the past the only way to buy games was physically, so it stood to reason that the console owner wanted a cut of those physical sales.
Now that digital and gamepass is a thing, Microsoft can entice people to buy an Xbox and gamepass and make steady bank with money, while also releasing yearly DLC for an injection of cash (see OW and the gorgon DLC). Meanwhile, they take a publisher/developer cut from Sony.
Sony don't miss out either. If their console is the most popular (very likely), then MS can sell games to a user base which is double that of the Xbox user base.
Everyone is a winner.
#Phonepunk#
Banned
lol it's a fantasy.
honestly it cracks me up that people think they aren't going to do a Skyrim and continue to whore out these games to every console made.
alucard0712_rus
Banned
So Sony and MS exclusives going to PC this gen?
I mean PC is very good choice this gen.
I mean PC is very good choice this gen.
Senua
Member
Timed exclusive I reckon
It is, but the new consoles are incredibly powerful for the price. There isn't a huge difference in power between the PS5 and a PC with a 3070, except the 3070 PC will cost about $1,000.
I say this as someone who uses PC almost exclusively. But the new consoles just offer a much better price / performance value right now than building a 30-series PC from scratch.
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Sir Vilhelm
Member
It's what got me to buy my first MS console, the 360. Word of mouth from friends and Gamestop employees was to buy the 360 and Oblivion.
I don't think it's really worth it. There will always be people who'd rather pay $70 for a title, regardless of subscribers buying it. Cutting those people off is just leaving money on the table.
Gamepass is getting more enticing every week, but i don't think it'll ever be anything other than awesome value. If someone isn't going to pay for something that almost feels like stealing, they're not going to pay because some game is locked behind a paywall. In fact, that's likely to have the opposite effect.
A.Romero
Member
I mean, I'm not saying it's a bad idea it's just that I don't see that happening. At least not this gen. The publisher money is attractive indeed but Microsoft has other goals such as making GP a success. Supporting a competitor's platform where GP is not available directly impacts that objective.
I'd be less surprised if GP was offered in the Switch, for example.
TheAssist
Member
Uhmm that is their total equity...if anything. Could you plz provide a source for that statment.
Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
Hopefully they bring out elder scrolls, doom, starfield, and wolfenstein on PS. Otherwise I'll have to miss out on 4 of my favorite franchises
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Iced Arcade
Member
Master Chief is definitely going to be playable in the next doom
Andodalf
Banned
This is great for diversity, they picked up DOOM, Prey, Wolf, Deatloop, and TEW. And more. It's not just BGS
Hudo
Member
Quake V, please.John Carmack is pleased that Bethesda has been taken over by Microsoft, perhaps returning to his titles
John Carmack is pleased that Bethesda has been taken over by Microsoft, perhaps returning to his titles
On September 21, Microsoft announced that ZeniMax Media, along with all of its game development studios, will join It in 2021. These include, among others, Bethesda, Arkane, Tango Gameworks, and id Software, a studio co-founded by John Carmack. After that, Carmack tweeted that Microsoft will...
jigglet
Banned
Ubi would be such a good fit for MS, given they like their GaaS games so much.
Sony
Nintendo
Given it some thought. I don't think it's likely that Microsoft will not release games on PS5. They can make money off of selling on PS5 while still expanding the library of Gamepass. Releasing Zenimax/Bethesda games day 1 on Gamepass will get people that care enough for it to switch to Microsoft's ecosystem. Not releasing on PS5 would mean losing a lot of revenue they cannot make up with Gamepass or Series S|X sales.
Slings and Arrows
Banned
Fair and valid points. Though i slightly disagree with supporting a competitors platform. You're correct in the traditional sense of it, but if the option is £70 for one game or £70 quid for a years worth of 100's of games, including day one releases of AAA games, i don't see it as direct as 'supporting the competition'.
MS has more to lose by not offering these games on every platform, VS keeping it behind a gamepass sub
phil_t98
#SonyToo
and you not accounting for new subscribers on there. so gamepass will stay at 15 mill for the next 4 years? it will grow and grow with this
Stuart360
Member
Skyrim 35mil sales and counting
Fallout 4 over 20mil, Doom, Wolenstein, Prey, Dishonored, etc, etc, etc.
Voost Kain
Banned
WHy are you splitting studios? Some of those studios are worth much more than others combining revenue, profit, assets, and IP.
'
No way in hell they don't put out TES6 on PS5. They would be leaving tens of millions of profit on the table.
Explosive Zombie
Banned
You guys do realize that's true of all exclusives ever, right?
massivekettle
Member
You have to ascribe value to intellectual property. Bethesda has established names like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, along with up-and-coming names like Dishonored, Prey, Starfield, etc. + idTech's proprietary game engines (which they used to license across the industry like the Call of Duty series, etc.)).
AFAIK, Insomniac only had Ratchet & Clank as IP.
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BusierDonkey
Member
No way Sony doesn't release it's games on PC, they'd be leaving tens of millions of profit on the table.
Hudo
Member
OldBoyGamer
Banned
Has anyone run the numbers to see how MS are getting their money back on that kind of deal?
I wonder if this is a multi generational move? Cos fuck me that’s a lot of cold cash.
also not sure how I feel about a coporate company pushing its financial might to completely change the landscape of an industry. Hate it in football too.
I wonder if this is a multi generational move? Cos fuck me that’s a lot of cold cash.
also not sure how I feel about a coporate company pushing its financial might to completely change the landscape of an industry. Hate it in football too.
Ash Sparrow
Banned
why not buy an xbox?
Reindeer
Member
Skyrim was a long time ago and Bethesda have really screwed up with likes of Fallout 76 since then. Wolfenstein is not a big seller and same for Dishonored, Prey sold really poorly. The likes of Fallout are still huge names in the industry, but Microsoft definitely overpaid here imo.
JawaSaysUtinni
Member
This might be worthy of hate I have no idea, but I have not played a Bethesda game this whole generation. In fact, I am pretty sure I didn’t play any during PS3 era either.
Nonetheless, I can imagine this being a big deal for some people, particularly with Fallout etc. For myself, this has no bearing.
EDIT: No scratch that, I did play Skyrim on PC. I am just slowly losing my mind. Loved it, but I felt like being on PC and adding in the mods made it so enjoyable.
Nonetheless, I can imagine this being a big deal for some people, particularly with Fallout etc. For myself, this has no bearing.
EDIT: No scratch that, I did play Skyrim on PC. I am just slowly losing my mind. Loved it, but I felt like being on PC and adding in the mods made it so enjoyable.
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Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
I don't like the gamepass model and I don't like the Xbox controller and I have a lot of time and money invested in friends and trophies and a massive library on PlayStation. I also don't want two boxes I like having one
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