‘Some’ New Bethesda Games Will Be Microsoft Exclusive After ZeniMax Acquisition

Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, was confirmed by the European Commission Monday, meaning the merger is all but confirmed.

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer wrote a post to the Xbox Wire blog welcoming the new suite of developers under ZeniMax into the Microsoft family.

“It’s an honor to welcome the eight incredibly talented development studios – Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios – and their passionate global communities to the Xbox family,” Spencer wrote in the post. “Now that everything is official, we can begin working together to deliver more great games to everyone.”

Wrapped in sugar, Spencer then dropped the bomb many gamers were expecting. “With the addition of the Bethesda creative teams, gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC, and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players.”

Spencer obviously doesn’t give any specifics on the future of ZeniMax games on other consoles, but it is not far-fetched to guess that PlayStation may start seeing less former-ZeniMax games in the future. PlayStation gamers, however, shouldn’t expect an iron curtain. Microsoft has been surprisingly kind in letting their in-house developed games go to different platforms.

PC players frankly have nothing to worry about since I’m certain near-all of us are using Windows, a Microsoft operating system, to play our games. If you’re a bit more picky about DRM or online merchant though, Steam is home to almost every Microsoft and Bethesda moneymaker, including The Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, and Forza Horizon 4. Epic Game Store players shouldn’t fret either since Bethesda’s Rage 2 was one of February’s free games on the service. It’s likely that from here on, Bethesda games will release day-in-day on Epic and Steam.

People worried about the future of Bethesda’s own games ought to find something else to be concerned about. Spencer has reiterated more times than comfortable that Bethesda will maintain full creative control for all future projects. Microsoft is just a new rich parent to support Bethesda and other developers’ craziest ideas.

Spencer wrote in his post, “it’s vitally important that Bethesda continues making games the way it always has. We look forward to empowering Bethesda’s creative teams to reach even more players around the world, helping make future Bethesda titles the biggest and most popular games in their history.”

To celebrate the historic acquisition, Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have access to a suite of Bethesda games on the cloud service later this week.