What a game changer, I don't think there has been anything this big ever in the gaming industry.
Is this really good? Buying up a big 3rd party devs with long standing muultiplatform games and tgen making them exclusive is just s***ty. Maybe they will do a Minecraft with these, but maybe not.
I am sure in short time it will be "ok to buy Insomniac, Alan Wake, Spider-Man rights, Sunset Overdrive", but when MS does it, it's BAD. Right?
You know, do we know that they are going to keep those games exclusive? I think having them be in gamepass day one is solid and if they want to let the games go to other consoles a year later to recoup development cost that would be great. If as the story goes they just want people playing their games, regardless of platform, why not make money from Sony gamers too?
Welcoming the Talented Teams and Beloved Game Franchises of Bethesda to Xbox - Xbox Wire
Critically acclaimed creators of The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Wolfenstein, DOOM, Dishonored, Quake, Starfield and more join Team Xbox Today is a special day, as we welcome some of the most accomplished studios in the games industry to Xbox. We are thrilled to announce Microsoft has entered into...
news.xbox.com
Todd Howard On Joining Xbox
I have had the pleasure of working with, and partnering with, many of the best gaming and tech companies in the world. But our longest, and closest partner during my career, has been Microsoft.
bethesda.net
I have been incredibly blessed to spend my entire career at, and help build, one of the best places to make games in the world - Bethesda.
And I’ve had the joy of doing it with some of the most talented, humble, and passionate people there are. They are part of my family, and my good friends. I have also had the pleasure of working with, and partnering with, many of the best gaming and tech companies in the world. But our longest, and closest partner during my career, has been Microsoft.
Today we join them, and I wanted to share some personal thoughts on what it means and our shared vision.
The trajectory of Xbox, and the trajectory of Bethesda, in many ways have gone hand in hand.
From our beginning, we had primarily been a PC developer. In 1999, two things happened. One, Bethesda became part of a brand-new startup - ZeniMax Media. And Microsoft started development of their first video game console - The Xbox. I can remember my first trip to Redmond to discuss the new system and bringing our next game, Morrowind, to the Xbox.
I was dubious Xbox Morrowind would be worth the time, somewhat on a technical level, but more so from taking a hardcore RPG and moving it from a PC desktop experience to a controller-and-sofa experience. If we made it work, would people want it?
Microsoft and their new Xbox crew had a view, that I came to share completely. Shouldn’t we allow anyone to have this experience? Why does it matter where the screen is or what the controller is? There are many people without the same access, and we can bring it to them.
Morrowind would go on to become one of the best-selling Xbox games of all time, behind Halo, another PC style game some said wouldn’t work. Its success paved the way for the growth of our company, and proved the point - people wanted this experience, regardless of device.
Microsoft quickly let us in on their next system, the Xbox 360. More than a PC port, our aim with our next game, Oblivion, was to usher in the next generation of gaming. With each game, from Fallout 3 to Skyrim, our studio and company grew, adding brilliant and like-minded studios across the globe. All of us sharing in the belief that expanding the reach of gaming was fundamental, whether it was on a pc, console, your phone, or the cloud.
With each new console cycle, we evolved together. From bringing mods to consoles with Fallout 4, now over a billion downloads, to the latest technologies fueling Xbox Series X/S. These new systems are optimized for the vast worlds we love to create, with generational leaps not just in graphics, but CPU and data streaming as well. It’s led to our largest engine overhaul since Oblivion, with all new technologies powering our first new IP in 25 years, Starfield, as well as The Elder Scrolls VI.
Like our original partnership, this one is about more than one system or one screen. We share a deep belief in the fundamental power of games, in their ability to connect, empower, and bring joy. And a belief we should bring that to everyone - regardless of who you are, where you live, or what you play on. Regardless of the screen size, the controller, or your ability to even use one.
We can’t think of a better group of people to do that with than those at Xbox. We have friendships that go back to those original days. From Phil to his senior leaders to developer support, they don’t just talk about putting players first, they passionately live it.
At Bethesda, we’ve been lucky enough to create games we love, and have an audience who loves them as much as we do. I have personally been humbled by the many industry honors I have received, as they belong to the entire studio. But one has always stood out to me for a special reason. When I received the Lifetime Achievement Award at GDC, I joked in my acceptance “I wonder how many achievement points this one is worth?” At the end of the ceremony, some good friends from Microsoft congratulated me and said they’d find out. A few months later I was given a code to a game they had created, named after me and locked to my account. When ran, it unlocks a single achievement - “Lifetime - 1000pts.” It still sits in my list when I check, and I smile every time.
It has been a lifetime. But there’s more to come and achievements to unlock together. We hope you join us.
All the best,
Todd
Todd Howard
Bethesda Game Studios
I don’t know if I agree with that. Fallout and Elder Scrolls are system sellers on their own. If they want to increase install base they wouldn’t need to put it on other consoles.
Also....this means Obsidian can create the next Fallout. Damn...this is huge.
I don't think people understand yet how big this is:
Elder Scrolls exclusive to the Xbox/PC.
Fallout exclusive to the Xbox/PC.
Doom exclusive to the Xbox PC.
RAGE exclusive to the Xbox PC.
Prey exclusive to Xbox PC.
These aren't small games. These are games that SELL systems. Period.
I think the meme of 'Xbox has no games' is being 'shotguned' by the Doom guy right now.
This means going forward, to play these games you need an Xbox or PC. This also means that Xbox is now home to western RPGs.
Elder Scrolls exclusive to the Xbox/PC.
Fallout exclusive to the Xbox/PC.
Doom exclusive to the Xbox PC.
RAGE exclusive to the Xbox PC.
Prey exclusive to Xbox PC.
These aren't small games. These are games that SELL systems. Period.
I think the meme of 'Xbox has no games' is being 'shotguned' by the Doom guy right now.
This means going forward, to play these games you need an Xbox or PC. This also means that Xbox is now home to western RPGs.
I still can't get over this. If you think this isn't a big deal then you're delusional or lieing to yourself, or both.
This is a megaton bomb that MS just dropped.
This is a megaton bomb that MS just dropped.
Fanboys: "Xbox has no games. Who would buy an Xbox when it has no games?"
MS: *buys tons of game studios
Fanboys: "This is bad for everyone"
MS:
MS: *buys tons of game studios
Fanboys: "This is bad for everyone"
MS:
Oh for sure.
After those contracts though...Microsoft has no need to put those games on anything other than PC/Xbox. This is Microsoft flexing the war chest in possibly the biggest acquisition in the past decade.
Big for MS. How is this big for us? We were getting all these games anyway.
MS building a new studio would be far more exciting than this.
Well there is a difference between it happening at some point and it happening right away.
Maybe they use these games to leverage game pass on PS? Who knows
Well it is big for me because I finally get to see Obsidian create the next Fallout. That is my stake in all this LOL. Admittedly a selfish reason but still.
MS is going to have all the post nuclear apocalyptic games in house. Megaton indeed.
I actually had to think about the date when I saw this on Twitter, I seriously thought it might be April Fools. Twitter is now lit.`
$7,500,000,000 out of the wallet of MS to acquire these studios. WOW. That is a lot of Xbox Game Studios games.
www.eurogamer.net
Microsoft buying Bethesda and Zenimax for $7.5bn
UPDATE 4.30PM UK: According to Bloomberg [paywall], the established PS5 timed-exclusivity for Deathloop and Ghostwire: …
www.eurogamer.net