The recent news about Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda and all of its studios has rocked the games industry to its core, and has since been confirmed as the most expensive merger in gaming history. Although it comes as no surprise that games like Doom, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls demanded a hefty price to purchase, the total cost of $7.5 billion dwarfs all previous acquisitions in the industry.
The only case that even comes close to this amount was when Activision Blizzard purchased King for a then-staggering $5.9 billion in 2015. At the time, the acquisition was major news, not only for the high price that games like Bubble Witch Saga and Candy Crush could fetch, but for giving the PC developer a firm foothold in the ever-expanding world of mobile gaming.
Another major acquisition by Microsoft, at the time, was in 2014 when it purchased Minecraft for $2.5 billion. In that same year, Facebook took the step of acquiring Oculus for $2 billion. Beyond that, several other acquisitions in the video game industry have hovered around or beneath the $1 billion mark, making Microsoft’s latest far larger than most by a massive margin.
By acquiring Bethesda and all its intellectual properties, Microsoft is ensuring that some of the best games released in the future are available for as many players as possible and will not be gated behind the Sony plan of console exclusivity. In a recent interview, Spencer described Microsoft’s plan: “As a player you are the center of our strategy. Our device is not the center of our strategy, our game is not the center of the strategy. We want to enable you to play the games you want to play, with the friends you want to play with, on any device.”
Microsoft is creating the perfect ecosystem for players to play their favorite games in whatever way they want. That could take on the form of the new Xbox Series X, PC, or streaming to any smart device via Project xCloud (except Apple iOS, for now).
However, Phil Spencer has also made it clear that multi-platform support for future games will be decided on a case by case basis. This is another fascinating part of Microsoft’s massive acquisition, because until recently it appeared that Sony would be repeating its generational dominance thanks to another large list of PS5 exclusive launch titles.
At the moment, it's unclear whether the acquisition will lead to full, timed, or no exclusivity for Bethesda games, as well as future titles from the likes of Arkane, id Software, and more. However, the fact remains that regardless of which path Microsoft chooses to follow, this merger will have a massive impact on the future of the industry.