Bethesda founder Christopher Weaver has opened up about the $7.5bn acquisition of the publisher’s parent company, Zenimax Media, stating the deal is “an extremely interesting acquisition on the part of both groups”.
As spotted by our pals at VGC, in an interview with Inverse, Weaver said “what Microsoft owns, Sony cannot get”, adding “there are only a limited number of proven creators of AAA”.
“I think this is an extremely interesting acquisition on the part of both groups. Microsoft deepens their bench instantly with one of the most experienced companies in entertainment software (during a time when video game sales are at an all-time high), and Bethesda gets the benefit of concentrating their creative firepower on software that feeds the Microsoft pipelines,” Weaver said. “A good prospective marriage of interests with a large domestic public partner.
“There are only a limited number of proven creators of AAA. What Microsoft owns, Sony cannot get,” the Bethesda founder added. “There are many economies of scale that consolidation between the right partners has the capacity to provide, but the ultimate test will be evidenced by the quality of products produced over time.”
Microsoft’s monumental acquisition of Bethesda, id Software, Arkane Studios, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks’ parent company, ZeniMax Media, was announced earlier this week in a deal worth $7.5bn.
As we posited at the time, the list of game franchises now part of the Xbox family makes for astonishing reading. It includes The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Dishonored, Wolfenstein, Prey, Rage, The Evil Within, Quake and the upcoming Starfield.
“The acquisition of Bungie acted as an important trigger for the success of the early Xbox,” Weaver concluded. “Depending upon how soon Bethesda can prime the Microsoft pipeline, I suspect Microsoft is looking at their playbook and looking to repeat one of its ‘best moves’.
“If the strategy works, it will be a brilliant counter-move against Sony. Users from around the world will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this deal. I wish them well.”
Microsoft’s deal is largely about securing games past, present and future for Xbox Game Pass, Eurogamer editor Oli wrote last week. The first Bethesda game to hit Xbox Game Pass following the announcement confirmed as is Doom Eternal, which will land on Game Pass for consoles on 1st October and for PC later this year.
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