According to Xbox head Phil Spencer, the surprising Bethesda buyout likely won’t become a fully official acquisition until sometime next year. Microsoft closed the deal back in September when the company announced its intention to buy the entirety of ZeniMax Media for a whopping $7.5 billion, one of the biggest media purchases in history.
A month ago, almost out of nowhere, Xbox announced its industry-shaking acquisition of ZeniMax Media, including all the studios and development capacities that belonged to the publisher. Basically, Microsoft acquired a host of world-famous teams, such as Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, and Arkane Studios among others - along with the rights to the entirety of their original IPs and portfolio. But while it feels like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and DOOM franchises are now exclusively owned by Microsoft with all the consequences such ownership might imply, the reality is far more complicated.
In an interview with Gamereactor, Xbox head Phil Spencer revealed that the acquisition of ZeniMax Media hasn’t been properly completed. The very act of purchase is yet to be taken as for the time being, Microsoft has only expressed the intention to acquire ZeniMax - but hasn’t actually done it. Both parties are nonetheless interested in closing the deal, but since it involves a lot of development and publishing assets being concentrated within Microsoft, the acquisition needs to go through a regulatory process. Spencer believes that there won’t be any obstacles or issues preventing Microsoft from finally acquiring ZeniMax, but it won’t be until early 2021 that the deal will be officially greenlit and closed. Because of that, Xbox is not currently in a position to make any specific long-term plans with Bethesda or any other studio belonging to ZeniMax, although the first cautious steps are already being made.
While Xbox is still far from announcing any big decisions regarding ZeniMax’s gaming portfolio, veterans of the gaming industry believe that the surprising acquisition will be used to compete with PlayStation. Interestingly, Spencer himself has recently stated that Microsoft owns a variety of gaming platforms so that it won’t be forced to release new games by Bethesda and other studios on a wider range of platforms just to make the deal work. Releasing on PS5 will never be a matter of recouping costs - but at the same time, Spencer firmly believes that preventing a specific audience from playing new titles is not a welcome decision.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the shockingly huge deal between Xbox and ZeniMax is being thoroughly regulated by authorities. With acquisitions like that, there’s always a threat of setting an unfair monopoly, which means that every individual case should be investigated for potential law violations. However, since Spencer feels fairly confident about the deal, there shouldn’t be any complications. The question is if Xbox’s attitude towards splitting audiences will change when ZeniMax is finally acquired.
Source: Gamereactor