Why Microsoft is Buying Bethesda

Microsoft is buying Bethesda and putting the company's entire game library on a monthly subscription service. The purchase of Zenimax will cost Microsoft $7.5 billion, and will pave the way for an increasingly full slate for the Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft is set to acquire Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Doom, Dishonored, and a bunch more iconic game franchises. This is part of a larger plan to take over the (gaming) world through getting everyone hooked on a monthly subscription.

Microsoft hopes to launch a big blockbuster on the platform, for no additional cost, around three to four times a year. The hope is not necessarily to compete directly with Sony's PlayStation 5, but rather to establish Xbox as the go-to subscription service for video games.

This plan, which sees Microsoft pitting themselves against Google Stadia, sounds absolutely nonsensical under the current climate, but the company is playing the long game.

Sure, more people are going to want PlayStation 5s when the new console generation stars, but selling the Xbox Series X and Series S is a secondary goal. Primarily, Microsoft wants subscribers.

In that respect, it turns out Microsoft and every single YouTube channel are basically the same.

Anyway, hope you're keeping safe! Wear a mask.

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Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51400135
https://www.protocol.com/tech-gaming-amazon-facebook-microsoft
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/348655/Multiplatform_games_from_Xboxowned_studios_must_make_sense_for_the_franchise.php
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-21/microsoft-to-buy-bethesda-studios-for-7-5-billion-to-boost-xbox
https://wccftech.com/microsoft-xbox-game-studios-16-first-parties/
https://venturebeat.com/2019/11/14/microsoft-moves-from-acquiring-game-studios-to-showing-off-their-games/
https://www.pcgamer.com/phil-spencer-talks-microsofts-new-studios-and-its-commitment-to-pc-gaming-in-2019/
https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/we-need-to-deliver-on-the-promises-that-we-make-xbox-game-studios-matt-booty-on-the-future-of-xbox/
https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/17/xbox-head-phil-spencer-time-move-away-console-wars-13005098/
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-10-are-xbox-series-x-developers-being-held-back-by-xbox-one
https://www.ladbible.com/technology/gaming-xbox-boss-says-exclusives-are-not-what-gaming-is-about-20200714
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/09/21/welcoming-bethesda-to-the-xbox-family/

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