<em>Doom</em>, <em>Fallout</em>, <em>Elder Scrolls</em> and more become MS properties in reported $7.5B deal.
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Microsoft purchases Bethesda Softworks in industry-changing acquisition
- Thread starter JournalBot
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Please, please, please give Fallout to Obsidian. Give them some inXile writers too and we'll have a dream game. 
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I'm actually okay with this. It seems Bethesda met great success but seems to lack discipline and proper QC/resource management of late. MS will likely bring in what they need to get back on track. I'm okay with waiting a little longer for a release as long as it's playable on another console and not a steaming pile of Dogcrap 76.
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Well that shakes up the console war a bit, unless you have a PC in which case you don't care.
The real question is whether they will leverage this for the Xbox or play nice like they have with Minecraft, although they have no obligation to with this purchase.
The real question is whether they will leverage this for the Xbox or play nice like they have with Minecraft, although they have no obligation to with this purchase.
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I wonder if this means that they're ditching the Bethesda account\launcher and migrating over to the xbox account system.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the next Fallout game will be more than ES wearing the worn out skin of Fallout.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the next Fallout game will be more than ES wearing the worn out skin of Fallout.
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What why? There are literally a million mobile devs, tons of Indy games hit it big and Apple TV is the closest thing we've had to a fourth console in decades!? How is it any less diverse because of one acquisition?
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And Arkane Studios, makers of the Dishonored series.
Wow.
I was going to get a PS5 because of my existing PS4 investment and my friends network going that way, but I’m seriously considering XBox instead. It’s the technically superior machine, Game Pass and PC/XBox cross purchasing are pretty nice, xCloud seems to be the best of the current cloud gaming services, and MS are maintaining backwards compatibility not only for more of their games but also for their controllers. If I was in that ecosystem already I’d be a lock-in for sure!
PS5 abandoning the PS4 controllers I already have is certainly not helping me to remain attached to the platform.
Once we know more about MS’s plans for exclusivity I think I will need to confer with my friends about which platform we’re likely to go for in the next gen...
Wow.
I was going to get a PS5 because of my existing PS4 investment and my friends network going that way, but I’m seriously considering XBox instead. It’s the technically superior machine, Game Pass and PC/XBox cross purchasing are pretty nice, xCloud seems to be the best of the current cloud gaming services, and MS are maintaining backwards compatibility not only for more of their games but also for their controllers. If I was in that ecosystem already I’d be a lock-in for sure!
PS5 abandoning the PS4 controllers I already have is certainly not helping me to remain attached to the platform.
Once we know more about MS’s plans for exclusivity I think I will need to confer with my friends about which platform we’re likely to go for in the next gen...
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coconutboy
Ars Praefectus
I'd be surprised if this doesn't result in at least some of The Elder Scrolls/Fallout/Doom/etc not being available on ps5 unless Sony loosens up further and brings more of their exclusives to PC.
Not that such a scenario is a good thing. Platform (and Epic) exclusives are bad for consumers. Life would be much better if we could play any nearly any game we wanted on our platform of choice.
Not that such a scenario is a good thing. Platform (and Epic) exclusives are bad for consumers. Life would be much better if we could play any nearly any game we wanted on our platform of choice.
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I'm not sure if I'd be excited by that after how underwhelming Outer Worlds turned out to be after a few hours. Glad it was on Game Pass so I didn't spend any extra on it.
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I wonder if this acquisition was also done to further strengthen Game Pass, as now they can include the Bethesda IP and games into that package as well.
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Disney owns that IP, and has licensed it exclusively to EA. Neither have the sense or the inclination to do KOTOR right.
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Maybe we will get all the Bethesda releases on Ultimate Game Pass? That would make me jump for a subscription.
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I think The Outer Worlds was pretty much self-funded, which means Obsidian had to be... "disciplined" in its development. Funding is no longer a problem.
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Like most major purchases, I assume it'll mean "change nothing" for the next couple of years of releases and start tinkering on stuff early in the pipeline stage.
Disney still put out The New Mutants and that movie is balls. Microsoft would be better off starting work on es7 and leave 6 as is (along with the next Fallout, Doom, Dishonoured, etc titles that are inevitably under development). I'd be surprised if they even did more than a timed exclusivity, the revenue from selling the games on PS5 wouldn't be worth giving up.
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Microsoft has done pretty good recently for the gaming crowd. Not only have they whipped up the Game Pass but they've also committed to PC releases and not just on the Windows store. It's fantastic to see the likes of Sea of Thieves and the Master Chief Collection coming to Steam instead of being trapped to a console or a particular store.
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They are mostly a developer who also publishes their own stuff. And buying developers isn't a new thing. Not is this the first time MS has done it.
And buying developers isn't something you do without a reason. Sony even hived off Sony online some years back. EA buy lots and have closed lots.
I don't see a sudden consolidation because there's nothing to cause it that wasn't there already and hasn't caused it.
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I completely fine with epic or steam or whichever other site having exclusives since the platforms all have no barriers to entry. It's pretty much irrelevant where I buy a game these days with Galaxy 2 anyways. I still try to prefer GoG but beyond that I don't think it's so important. The exclusives that irk me as a PC gamer are mostly console exclusives, and while MS has been doing much better about avoiding exclusivity these days, Sony has not. It may be that if Sony is interested enough in Fallout and ES, they may bring more of their captive games over to PC and the Xbox. This could be a win for everyone in the form of openness.
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I read once that the 100 most popular consumer good brands in the US had 80ish owners and now the same 100 brands are owned by less than 15 conglomerates.
This is bad for mankind.
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Game Pass is getting a huge boost with this for sure. MS has been expanding their subscription model and this is a major adder to Game Pass.
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"It looks like you might need a clue to help you find that mininuke. Would you like me to give you a clue now?"
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Think about it, both companies are known for launching their flagship software in a half-assed, bug-ridden, unfinished mess that requires a lot of crowdsourcing to fix their mistakes.
So it's a match made in a glitchy heaven.
So it's a match made in a glitchy heaven.
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I'm hoping there is some corporate restructuring in the future. Microsoft purchased ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, which in turn oversees the studios. I don't see how adding yet another layer of "corporate overlord" will make things better.
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Someone was really itching for that completionist Mergers & Acquisitions: The Game achievement
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Except KOTOR is owned by Lucas, which means it's owned by Disney, who licensed Star Wars to EA, which means if we were to get a "properly finished" KOTOR 2, it'd be most likely done by Bioware.
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Microsoft are only doing this so they can add Fallout and Skyrim skins to Minecraft.
Only joking. As someone who was going to go PS5 rather than XBSX next gen, it will be interesting to see what this means for Bethesda's various IP. But given Bethesda's current management style of driving the business into the ground, MS certainly can't make things any worse.
Only joking. As someone who was going to go PS5 rather than XBSX next gen, it will be interesting to see what this means for Bethesda's various IP. But given Bethesda's current management style of driving the business into the ground, MS certainly can't make things any worse.
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With enough time, EA will probably pay Microsoft to take Bioware off their hands.
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