Xbox Buys Bethesda: What It Means For Game Pass, Starfield, PS5 + More | Generation Next

The Generation Next crew break down what Xbox buying Bethesda means for Game Pass, and upcoming Bethesda games like Starfield and PS5 exclusives Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop.

Unexpected news means an unexpected bonus episode of Generation Next. Microsoft has purchased ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. This landmark acquisition is going to have a significant impact on the future of video games so, just moments after the announcement, Lucy, Tamoor, and Jordan sat down to talk about the implications.

For context, this is one of Microsoft's most expensive recent acquisitions, with the company spending more on Bethesda than it did on Minecraft. The $7.5 billion is even more than Disney spent on Marvel and Lucasfilm, which really drives home the value it sees in ZeniMax Media's subsidiary studios.

For those unaware, the acquisition means Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog join the Xbox family, bringing with them franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Dishonored, and Wolfenstein, among many others.

So, what does it all mean? Watch this episode of Generation Next and find out. The gang covers everything from the particulars of the acquisition to the impact it'll have on Game Pass, and what it means for existing exclusivity deals with PlayStation, as well as how these studio purchases align with Xbox boss Phil Spencer's ethos of making gaming available to anyone and everyone.

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tingtong

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It means somebody's getting desperate.

Upvote • 3 years ago

timothyt

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Unless MS is planning on getting out of the console hardware business altogether and just handing it to Sony and Nintendo (like Sega did many years ago), they would be crazy to not make all these games exclusive as fast as possible. They would be crazy to, for example, make Halo, Gears or Forza for PS5. Those franchises are the only ones that sell XBox units right now and compared to Sony's lineup of exclusives, XBox exclusives are pitiful.

I know they ultimately want GamePass/xCloud to be the console of the future but it won't happen in this generation, and if they want to sell more XBox consoles relative to Sony in this generation, they needed more exclusives and this was a very expensive but effective way to get there without spending the years Sony did building up those studios. Microsoft could actually afford to not make a dime on this investment - they make or lose 7.5 billion in market cap every time their stock goes up or down $1 (It's trading at $200 a share right now and fluxuates a few dollars every few days).

Microsoft needs to sell a ton of next gen XBox units so they don't lose another console generation. It won't really matter if they're Series X or Series S. They have been embarrassed by Sony this generation and it's for exactly one reason - exclusives.

I'd love to see The Last of Us 2, Mario, God of War, Zelda and the Drake games on XBox but that's just not the console world. I think the future is that Nintendo has Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing and Metroid, Sony has SpiderMan, God of War, The Last of Us (and anything else Naughty Dog and Insomnia put out), Microsoft has Halo, Forza, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Quake. I think everyone's just wishful thinking on the cross-platform but I hope I'm wrong.

Superlion7

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When you have power like that, there's pretty much nothing you can't assimilate and make a part of you. Resistance is futile at this point. The Xbox then becomes one of those needed appliances like a refrigerator or a stove, microwave oven. I see the Xbox moving from just a game machine into become an appliance of sorts which can be rented/paid off monthly. And that has much longer life span than any game box out there. Money talks so a lot of people will listen and follow the stream with the others going the MS way.

memrie

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Netflix has 182 million subscribers. I pay roughly $15/mo. for the content, twice as much as I did 10 years'ish ago, but I receive Netflix originals along with a HUGE catalogue of on demand television and movies.

Similarly, this is how I see GamePass expanding. How does Microsoft grow to 30, 50, 100+ million subscribers? By acquiring brands like Mojang, 343, Rare, Ninja Theory, Obsidian, Bethesda and on and on and on.

Oh, $182M x $15 = 2.73 BILLION per month revenue.

My view, the fastest way to sail past 100 million? Make an incredible offer for THE legendary gaming icon, Nintendo.

Edited By timothyt

@memrie: Nintendo is worth about $78b so that would be 10x the size of this (but imagine the exclusives!). More likely I could see Microsoft acquiring EA for about $40b, which would get them all the Star Wars rights, the Sims and Madden. Maybe they could even negotiate $5b off because they'd have to get Anthem too...

Interestingly, you know what else they could buy for $78b? Sony.

Jimminyfixit

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Good to hear from Jordan again there...

xophaser

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Edited By xophaser

the winner is ZeniMax Media, that is way too much money for these studios. MS just got a lot of money to throw around. But this is how business works.

2 • 3 years ago