Microsoft buys Bethesda: Here’s how it will affect exclusivity, GamePass, more

By Giovanni Colantonio March 9, 2021

Microsoft has officially acquired Bethesda. While the company announced its plans to buy Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media last month, the ink didn’t formally dry until today.

Microsoft made the deal official with a new blog post welcoming Bethesda to the team and outlining some plans for the future. The post doesn’t give many details, but it does feature a few key snippets that answer some long-lingering questions about the deal.

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For one, Microsoft finally confirmed that some Bethesda games will be exclusive to Xbox and PC going forward. One key line in the Xbox Wire post says that “gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players.”

That’s a significant development considering that Microsoft previously danced around the question of exclusivity. The company originally confirmed that games like Deathloop will retain their planned PlayStation exclusivity, but gave vague answers about projects going forward.

“What we’ll do in the long run is we don’t have intentions of just pulling all of Bethesda content out of Sony or Nintendo or otherwise,” Xbox Chief financial Officer Tim Stuart said on a conference call in November. “But what we want … in the long run [is] to be either first or better or best, or pick your differentiated experience on our platforms.”

The other development is more immediate. Microsoft confirmed that new Bethesda games will come to Xbox Game Pass this week. The Xbox Wire post doesn’t specify which games or what days they’ll be released on, but information is coming soon.

Current rumors indicate that a major presentation will be taking place this Thursday that outlines Microsoft and Bethesda’s plans for the future. It’s expected that the companies will announce what new games are coming to Game Pass, as well as provide updates on games like Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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