While one would think this week would be defined by pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S going live, it actually began with the bombshell that Microsoft has bought Bethesda, lock, stock and barrel. It’s a move that will have huge implications for the industry in the long term. It’s unclear as of now how Microsoft will operate Bethesda, whether they will keep their upcoming titles strictly within their ecosystem or still allow them to be multiplatform. All we know is Bethesda will still publish titles under their label, but that’s the extent of it as of now. Either way, it seems the company’s original Co-founder seems positive on the idea.
Speaking with Inverse, Christopher Weaver, co-founder of Zenimax/Bethesda and creator of The Elder Scrolls series, was asked about the buyout. He expressed that he actually felt it was a pretty good situation and that it helps Microsoft’s need for more content with an experienced partner and that Bethesda can now focus more on their creative juices as they work on Microsoft’s pipeline.
“I think this is an extremely interesting acquisition on the part of both groups,” said Weaver. “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. A good prospective marriage of interests with a large domestic public partner.”
It is probably worth mentioning that while Weaver seems to have nothing to do with Bethesda now, he was the last known largest shareholder in the company (it’s unclear if this is still true, however), so that may or may not be coloring his view here- but his reasoning is on the money. With Bethesda games now hitting Game Pass on day 1, it does create an incredible amount of software pipeline for Microsoft, no doubt one of the key reasons behind the acquisition in question. Microsoft has also signaled they will be looking at buying other game companies in the future as well, so this conversation is very likely one that can be had again soon.
