On September 21, Microsoft announced the purchase of ZeniMax Media, which owns Bethesda, Arkane, id Software, MachineGames and several other small studios. The deal itself, which is estimated at $7.5 billion, is expected to close by the end of June 2021 – but these are all formalities that mean little to the players in the end.

What’s more interesting is where this deal could lead in the future. And it’s possible, of course, that everything was meant just to make The Elder Scrolls VI an exclusive of Microsoft, but it would be the obvious and perhaps the most uninteresting scenario. Let’s think about what else this could all mean for all of us – those of us who are getting ready to launch the next generation and just waiting for cool games.

Microsoft bought Bethesda

Right now this deal is an ingenious marketing ploy that means next to nothing

The agreement between Microsoft and ZeniMax Media is indeed almost a “deal of the century” for the gaming industry and everyone involved, but right now, in September 2020, it is primarily an ingenious marketing move in the “war” of consoles next generation. Neither Microsoft, Bethesda nor the other ZeniMax Media studios have announced any new games or made any announcements about their releases before the end of the year — and, more importantly, about the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X line of games on launch day of the consoles.

And if before you thought that in November Microsoft has nothing to “cover” Sony, which at the launch will have a remake of Demon’s Souls (2020), which is not played anywhere but on the PlayStation 5, now your opinion should hardly be affected. The actual balance of power in this “war,” despite the high-profile deal, remained the same. And those who wanted to buy a new Xbox will buy a new Xbox. And those who were going to go to the store for the PS5, will go for it.

Or is it?

The very fact that Microsoft, thanks to this deal, might make a new The Elder Scrolls its exclusive sometime in the future, or, say, give Arkane money to develop Prey 2, means more to many than being able to play a Demonʼs Souls remake on PlayStation 5 on launch day of the console.

And that’s okay – I’m telling you, it’s a genius marketing ploy. Made on the eve of the start of pre-orders of new Xbox.

TES 6 exclusivity cannot be ruled out, but Microsoft hasn’t waged console “wars” with exclusives for a long time now

As I wrote above, no one has yet said anything about the games – including their exclusivity to one platform or another. Nevertheless, talk has already started online that new Bethesda games – the same TES 6 – and other ZeniMax Media studios may only come out on Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X and possibly on PC.

And yes, this possibility cannot be ruled out, because no one has claimed otherwise, but also do not forget that Microsoft itself has not used exclusives as the final argument in the console “wars” for a long time.

Instead, it is developing a service – that is, an ecosystem in which there are Windows PCs and Xbox (and, more recently, smartphones as well), and its own Game Pass subscription with a huge library of games. The company still has formal exclusives – the same Halo, Forza and Gears of War exist only within the above-described ecosystem on PC and Xbox and never appeared on Sony consoles. But in the end, it’s not as important their conditional exclusivity as the fact that all new games from these series appear on Game Pass on release day.

And if you actively use the service, play a lot of games and think of Game Pass as “Netflix for games,” the availability of new projects on release day without additional costs and hassle plays an important role. It’s clear that a subscription still costs money, but Game Pass for a year is many times cheaper than the stated PS5 exclusives at the moment all together. And on a subconscious level, when you already have a subscription, the opportunity to play a game on “gamepass” is associated with the word “free. Of course, not for free, but here the game appeared in Game Pass, you do not pay for it separately, just download and play.

And if about any exclusivity of new Bethesda games can not say yet, but that all they will appear in the Game Pass is unlikely to doubt. They may not appear, of course, no one has said anything yet – but if so, then what’s the point of all this? And if they appear, for many, I am sure, a much more attractive option would be to play the same The Elder Scrolls 6 on Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S via Game Pass, rather than buy it on PS5 for 5-6 thousand rubles. And it won’t make any difference whether it’s an exclusive game or not.

In addition, ZeniMax Media is still a company with its own budgets and development strategy. And she needs to make money too, Microsoft can’t sponsor her studios forever. It would be strange if the same Bethesda, which has been selling multiplatform all its life, suddenly gives up part of the market.

On the other hand, it’s all just a guess. Microsoft can do anything at all. She’s already said that the PS5 will still have temporary Deathloop exclusivity (she’s not the one being so generous, but previous agreements seem to oblige). And also – that the availability of all future games on different platforms will be discussed on the fact. It can be temporary exclusivity, full exclusivity, or exclusivity on a piece of content.

Plus, Phil Spencer, with the same sly smile, first gives the okay for Halo: Infinite for Xbox Series X, then announces Minecraft Dungeons, which comes out on PS4 as well, and then “releases” both parts of Ori on Switch. So it’s really too early to tell – anything can happen.

Games that were previously only a dream can now become a reality

This deal, among other things, opens up a lot of opportunities for developers and probably involves additional budgets – including the creation of games that previously Bethesda would not have spent.

That and The Evil Within 3: Part 2, one of the best survival horror of our time, which did not bring the expected sales. And, for example, Prey 2 – the main game in the genre of immersive sim today, the first part of which also failed to meet expectations in sales. It’s either a sequel to Dishonored or an offshoot in the same universe, but with different characters.

This is Fallout: New Vegas 2: the game may well return to Obsidian – and the studio itself, and the rights to the series is now in the hands of Microsoft.

This is also the new Quake and Doom from John Carmack: the creator of both series has already expressed the hope that in the future he could work on the games of id Software again.

This is Fallout Online (not Fallout 76, but the normal game): the same The Elder Scrolls Online proved itself perfectly, satisfying those who wanted to play a MMO, and those who were waiting for a single-player adventure.

That’s a lot more games that someone might not even know about.

Microsoft has all the best developers together

Few people think about it, but right now Microsoft is working:

  • Tim Shafer is the founder of Double Fine Studios, the writer of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, the creator of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend, and Jack Black’s best friend;
  • Brian Fargo is the founder of inXile, creator of Torment: Tides of Numenera and Wasteland 2 and Wasteland 3;
  • Tim Kane is a writer for Obsidian, creator of Fallout, founder of the now-closed Troika Games, and head of development for The Outer Worlds;
  • Leonard Boyarsky is a colleague of Tim Kane, designer of Fallout and Diablo 3, and co-author of The Outer Worlds;
  • Todd Howard is a producer at Bethesda Game Studios, head of development for The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, and the hero of numerous Skyrim memes;
  • Harvey Smith is the game designer of Arkane, the designer of Deus Ex, and the creative director of Dishonored;
  • Shinji Mikami is the founder of Tango Gameworks, creator of the Resident Evil series, The Evil Within, and currently working on GhostWire: Tokyo;
  • Hugo Martin is the creative director of id Software and the last two installments of Doom;

And many more developers who gave us games like We Happy Few, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Forza Motorsport, Gears 5 and so on.

All of these people may well make some of the most important games of the next generation. And these games will belong to Microsoft.