Spencer added that there will be more news about how the Xbox teams will work later this year, but promised that more Bethesda games would be added to the Xbox Game Pass later this week to celebrate (no details on what those games have been announced yet).
In a blog post, Pete Hines of Bethesda wrote that “we are not making any major announcements or changes at the moment”, but added that “we will work to put even more of our games on the Game Pass than ever before”.
Spencer made an important point clear, clarifying some of the speculation about whether Bethesda games would be exclusive to Xbox: “With the addition of Bethesda’s creative teams, players should know that Xbox, PC and Game Pass consoles will be the best place to try new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players. “Spencer reiterated that Microsoft would allow Bethesda to continue “making games the way it always has”, and it is worth noting that neither Xbox nor Bethesda mention Xbox Game Studios in their launchings on the acquisition. This may indicate Bethesda working under an umbrella different from other original Microsoft studios. To help manage this new acquisition, Xbox apparently created a new company called Vault – which could be the new brand for Bethesda games made under the Xbox.
At the end of last week, the European Commission paved the way for the Xbox acquisition of ZeniMax to continue, removing a significant obstacle to massive buying. The United States SEC also approved the acquisition.
With the purchase complete, Xbox acquired the following ZeniMax developers:
- Alpha Dog Games
- Arkane Studios (including offices in Lyon, France and Austin, Texas)
- Bethesda Softworks (including Bethesda Game Studios in Maryland, Bethesda Game Studios Austin, Bethesda Game Studios Dallas and Bethesda Game Studios Montreal)
- Id Software (including offices in Richardson, Texas and Frankfurt, Germany)
- MachineGames
- Roundhouse Studios
- Tango Gameworks
- ZeniMax Online Studios
Xbox was not very straightforward with its plans for developers like Bethesda and id when it announced plans to acquire ZeniMax in 2020. Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in an interview that he was not actively planning the future of studios like Bethesda until later. the acquisition is complete.
Therefore, although Xbox did not announce exclusivity plans for the console, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said that at least the games from Bethesda and other ZeniMax studios will be “the first or the best or the best” on the Xbox platforms.
There are many ways for Xbox to place ZeniMax games on a number of its own channels, either through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service on the console and PC, or through the xCloud streaming service. Both options that Spencer discussed earlier when talking about the acquisition of ZeniMax.
The highly successful Xbox acquisition of ZeniMax sent shock waves across the industry, reinforcing the original Xbox lineup, and even apparently scared competitors like Google Stadia.
With the acquisition made official, it’s time to see what exactly the Xbox has plans for ZeniMax and games from studios like Bethesda, which is currently developing titles like Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6.