This is a big year for the video game industry as both Sony and Microsoft are gearing up to launch their next-generation video game consoles. Both are slated to release next month and each will bring in new powerful components for developers to craft video games for. However, some of the big moves that are happening lately are studios being acquired by Microsoft and Sony. Last year we had Sony make the move to purchase Insomniac Games which cost over $200 million. This year Microsoft made a far bigger purchase with ZeniMax Media.
It cost Microsoft north of $7 billion but this deal came packed with studios and IPs. Fleshing out their first-party development teams, Microsoft will soon be the owner of studios such as Arkane Studios, id Software, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Roundhouse Studios, Alpha Dog Games, and arguably the biggest of the batch, Bethesda Softworks. This could mean that the future video game releases from these studios are slated to release on Microsoft’s Xbox ecosystem only which means exclusives to the likes of Xbox Series X and the PC platform.
Since this announcement came out online, there has been plenty of fans wondering just what this means for the likes of their favorite franchises. We could see Fallout and The Elder Scrolls franchises end up being exclusive to Xbox platforms and that may be a tough reality for those who didn’t have plans on picking up an Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass, or a gaming PC. Recently, Gamesindustry spoke with Bethesda director, Todd Howard where future remarks were made.
When the publication stated to Todd Howard that it would be hard to imagine that The Elder Scrolls 6 wouldn’t release other platforms, Todd Howard simply agreed, but wouldn’t offer any more information on the matter. It could be due to the fact that at this moment, there are no plans in place. Phil Spencer even stated that it’s not legal right now to discuss plans and goals with these studios as the full acquisition of ZeniMax Media won’t be finalized until early 2021. However, Phil Spencer has also stated that Microsoft doesn’t need to sell games on other platforms to recoup their purchase.
