Microsoft's acquisition of parent company ZeniMax. The $7.5 billion purchase nets franchises ranging from Doom and Quake to The Elder Scrolls and Dishonored for the Xbox family. It's the latest in a long string of Microsoft acquisitions going back several years in an attempt to shore up first-party for its console, which was lacking during the Xbox One years.
Bethesda's next few games are already set in stone, and the Microsoft purchase won't affect their planned console exclusivity on PlayStation 5. Arkane Studios is releasing Deathloop, a time travel-focused first person shooter, in mid-2021. Meanwhile, the team behind The Evil Within is hard at work on GhostWire: Tokyo, a unique action-adventure title that hasn't revealed much about its gameplay as of yet. Microsoft has not chosen to highlight either game as part of today's announcement, but it's likely that future installments in these franchises would come to Xbox over PlayStation should they become a success. If they do, they may still have a Bethesda logo on the box.
In a statement released today, Bethesda marketing lead Pete Hines goes over why he feels good about the deal with Microsoft and hints at what it could mean for Bethesda games going forward. It seems likely that Microsoft will not release games in any of Bethesda's bigger franchises outside of the Xbox family of systems, but that is up in the air. What seemingly isn't up in the air is Bethesda's place in the Microsoft ecosystem. Hines states that Bethesda games will be "made by the same studios we’ve worked with for years, and those games will be published by us."
Much like other publishers with multiple labels, Microsoft could label some Bethesda games as published by Xbox Games Studios and others by Bethesda. Microsoft's statements have made it clear that Bethesda will operate as it has in the past, so this setup would make sense. Of course, it also doesn't have to be a permanent arrangement. Microsoft's recent strategy of acquiring studios won't fully pay off until well into the next generation, so it could be years until the full effects are known.
It's easy to see why Microsoft would want to keep the Bethesda branding around, even in a scenario where it's more in control over the developer's output. Before the acquisition, Bethesda had made a big play on gaming's main stage, hosting a successful E3 for several years, releasing a PC gaming launcher, and building a loyal fanbase all its own. Even more than other recently acquired studios like Double Fine or Obsidian, Bethesda has become one of the biggest names in gaming, so keeping its name on game boxes could do both companies a lot of good.
Source: Bethesda
