The European Commission a $7.5 billion deal in favour of Microsoft acquiring ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Doom and Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks. The deal got the EU’s approval without conditions, as it “does not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market”.
Although the deal reached completion the EU still had to approve it before Microsoft could finalise. Now that it has approval, Microsoft can now bring future games to its Xbox Game Pass subscription.
“The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the combined entity’s limited market position upstream and the presence of strong downstream competitors in the distribution of video games. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure,” a statement from the commission read.
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Microsoft had initially announced its plans to acquire Bethesda in September 2020. At the time, it promised to honor PS5 exclusivity commitments for Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo. It also said Games like The Elder Scrolls: Online will also “continue to be supported exactly as it was.”
Upon closure, Microsoft’s list of first-party studios will become 23. It will be adding Bethesda sub-studios like Dishonored developer Arkane, Wolfenstein studio MachineGames, Doom maker id Software, and The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks.
Microsoft also seems to want ZeniMax running separately, with its existing leadership. It follows the company’s template with its acquisition of Mojang, LinkedIn, and GitHub. The companies continued to run separately after Microsoft‘s acquisition.
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