Microsoft Buying Bethesda Finally Approved by EU

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Yes you read that right. Microsoft is buying ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda, for a whopping $7.5 BILLION with a capital B.

If you’re unaware as to who ZeniMax Media is, they’re a company you might have heard of if you’re a fan of Elder Scrolls or modern day Fallout games as the parent company for Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda has made countless blockbuster franchises as well as a few famous missteps, but I’m not here to talk about Fallout 76.

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This might be a big announcement to some, but this has actually been public since late September of 2020. Todd Howard, current Game Director and Executive Producer for Bethesda Game Studios, had this to say in his statement titled “Todd Howard on Joining Xbox”.

Todd Howard’s Statement On Acquisition

todd-howard-headshot
credit: Develop:Brighton

I have been incredibly blessed to spend my entire career at, and help build, one of the best places to make games in the world – Bethesda

And I’ve had the joy of doing it with some of the most talented, humble, and passionate people there are. They are part of my family, and my good friends. I have also had the pleasure of working with, and partnering with, many of the best gaming and tech companies in the world. But our longest, and closest partner during my career, has been Microsoft.

Today we join them, and I wanted to share some personal thoughts on what it means and our shared vision.

Todd Howard on Bethesda being bought by Microsoft

But this is all from September. Why is this breaking news all of the sudden? Well, that’s because the buy was essentially put on hold while waiting to be approved or denied by the European Commission.

The Approval Is Here!

The European Commission had a press release regarding the acquisition, and had this to say on the merger, “The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of ZeniMax Media Inc. by Microsoft Corporation,” they go on to say that the Commission “concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns,” and thus was approved with no conditions.

xbox+bethesda+acquisition Microsoft Buying Bethesda
credit: Bethesda

They’ve even welcomed each other on Twitter today following the official approval for the merger with Xbox saying “We’ve always been fans, but now we’re family. Welcome to Team Xbox, @bethesda”, and Bethesda having their own tweet saying “After decades of friendship, we are excited to officially join the Xbox family.”

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Now what does Microsoft buying Bethesda mean for games being published by the publisher in the future? Yes. There will be Bethesda titles that are exclusive from PlayStation, but PC and Xbox users will both have access to them through the Xbox Game Pass.

If you’re a PlayStation Bethesda fan, I’m sorry, but thankfully you’ll still have Skyrim on every other console you might possibly own to tide you over until you have either a computer with Windows 10 or the latest Xbox When Skyrim 2: Dragon Boogaloo is released.

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For more information on Bethesda and or Xbox, check out their Twitter pages @BethesdaStudios and @Xbox

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