Bethesda Acquisition Is a Kick in the Balls for PS5, But Sony's Goals Won't Change

PushSquare: “Xbox has acquired Bethesda for a frightening sum of money, putting that oft-referenced Microsoft warchest to use at last. The purchase price, an eye-watering $7.5 billion, eclipses the sum Disney spent on Marvel and Star Wars combined – it’s a frankly flabbergasting figure. It’s also potentially a giant blow for the PlayStation 5, but we don’t think Sony’s plans will change.”

[NecrumOddBoy]

It spits in the face of gamers more than anything.

[SaveFerris]

Just business, and MS is smart. Think of all those gamers signing up to Gamepass to play Bethesda games including future titles.

[Sonic-and-Crash]

as you said just business ...even if i am mostly a PS user i say its justified move for MS .....if it is a real kick in the balls for Sony though i say this is nonsense as no Bethesda game is considered system seller or at least good enough to reach Sony s first party quality

[Brazz]

@ Sonic-and-Crash
let me correct you... no "current" Bethesda game is considered system seller.
In past gen. Bethesda delivered 2 gigantic sytem sellers:
Skyrim and Fallout 3.

Now, Doom eternal and The wolfenstein are greta games, and Fallout 4 delivered amazing results. Bethesda of today isn't bathesda of 2011 with skyrim, but they still got strong IPs with strong names. Ms made a great deal here.

[Marquinho]

From the artice:

"PlayStation, still the global market leader by a country mile, has become an underdog overnight"

Coming from a hardcore PS website. I guess that summarizes how big of a kick in the nuts this was. However, I still don't think Sony has become the underdog at all but the game has radically changed, that's for sure.

[Marquinho]

@Sonic-and-Crash

"I say this is nonsense as no Bethesda game is considered system seller or at least good enough to reach Sony s first party quality"

Skyrim beat Uncharted 3 on GOTY 2011.

We'll see about that when Starfield, Elder Scrolls and refreshed titles already in development come out after this acquisition.

[bouzebbal]

I couldn't care less about this acquisition.. I never played a Bethesda game and I'm not fan of western RPG in general.
I'm a Japanese console gamer, I grew up with Seg a and Nintendo.. I would have been sad if they bought Square Enix or Capcom instead. And what made 360 the most popular xbox to date is the Japanese games it got.

I understand Bethesda/xbox fans being so happy about this, but let's be honest...what's the last good game Bethesda released? Last couple games were broken, Fallout 76 was a joke.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

PC yes. Gamepass, no.

[fiveby9]

It doesn't bother me Zenimax was purchased by MS. At this time I'll still be getting a PS5 first once I can pre-order one. I'll probably just use my PC still for any MS exclusives.

[sampsonon]

PC

[fr0sty]

As long as Bethesda keeps self-publishing games, it doesn't matter whose pocket the money for that game ends up in... it will still be multiplatform. MS was smart to take this approach, much like they did with Minecraft.

Microsoft is positioning themselves to be a competent third party games publisher. I wouldn't be shocked to see Sony start doing this too (Horizon, for instance), acquiring new studios or entire publishers and then letting them keep releasing games multiplatform.

[Marquinho]

@fr0sty

LOL. Do you actually believe what you're saying?

Try to hardcore this in your mind: Microsoft now OWNS Bethesda. Games aren't going anywhere Microsoft decides not to. That's the whole concept of Owning a developer/publisher.

There's some tiny hope for you though. Microsoft didn't completely rule out publishing their games on other consoles. They actually said they would decide on a "case by case basis".

Whether you believe they will be in the mood of releasing Starfield on PS5 after knowing Sony wanted it to be a timed exclusive is just a matter of how high is your faith. I wouldn't hold my breath on it =)

[Sunny_D]

All this does is it's going to cause Sony to acquire something significant and people who are celebrating now will be crying about it later. The gaming industry will be changing in a probably not so good way due to this precedent. But we'll see what MS does with Bethesda games.

[b163o1]

FO4 was and still is a disappointment, even with all the DLC. Bethesda is a shadow of the company it once was...

[Marquinho]

Those complaining about Microsoft buying Bethesda, are the same that the same crying out loud that MS had no exclusives.

That cr#p ends this generation.

[Wrex369]

I'm one of them. I signed up 2 weeks ago

[DOMination-]

"say this is nonsense as no Bethesda game is considered system seller or at least good enough to reach Sony s first party quality"

You're really going there?

[Jin_Sakai]

Seems like Bethesda wanted out and Microsoft was their answer.

https://twitter.com/jeffgru...

[RaidenBlack]

"Why Bethesda's stakeholders wanted to sell. AAA gaming's future is unsustainable and murky, and it would take a lot of effort, money, and luck to reorganize for that future. Makes more sense to sell.
I personally don't get worked up about Sony buying exclusives, but I do think there's a distinction.
Microsoft is buying Bethesda to enable its studios to continue making games. That's different than paying a company to keep an existing game off of a competing platform."

[AngelicIceDiamond]

So Zenimax predicted their forecast of more spending on AAA games vs actual sales or profits being made back to them is not sustainable.

Meaning they're fine now but later they will struggle through out the gen. They sold to MS to secure, their jobs, studios and games.

[CaptainHenry916]

WOW lol but Bethesda games has been going downhill lately.

[crazyCoconuts]

I don't know... if this is really true, why MS? Sure they have deep pockets but they're not exactly known for being turnaround-kings for game developers. Why would MS expect to be successful where Zenimax was not? And at that MAGNITUDE, it's just a huge undertaking if some kind of transformation to GaaS needs to take place, all those studios hitting you at the same time could be bordering on chaotic.

[jznrpg]

That’s BS . They sold because it made many people a shitload of money . 7.5billion

[dcbronco]

That's what gamers don't understand. And that's why Game Pass is the future of AAA development.

If Microsoft has enough studios to release a highlighted AAA game each month it will keep people subscribed. If enough do it allows your games to receive financing as development goes on. Currently 15 million subscribers gets Microsoft 225,000,000 a month in revenue. If you're supporting 12 main games with 50 million dollar budgets you have covered your cost for them after 3 months of payments. Even if the subscribers only liked four of the AAA titles they will find plenty of other titles to play along with favorites like Battlefield and Fifa. So they keep paying.

An independent developer or one depending strictly on selling copies to cover cost has to be successful. They might have bank loans for development cost and will need financing for the next game. The Game Pass developer knows they have financing. They know can take chances on ideas. As long as they hit from time to time a failure doesn't mean the developer could die.

It's the best way to finance games, keep prices stable and allow developers to take creative risk.

[Ulf]

Microsoft bought Zenimax, not Bethesda -- Zenimax owns Bethesda, and everything associated. Your perspective is a little off.

[CrimsonWing69]

Not if you are buying an Xbox.

Look, I'm team Sony, but let's not pretend like exclusives never existed and this is how you keep the market competitive.

If Sony starts losing consumers to Xbox because that's the only place they can play Elder Scrolls 6 and Star Field, well Sony will step up their game and try to make stronger exclusives to keep from losing consumers.

Sure, you can be salty about it, but at the end of the day these businesses are in a boxing match. MS has been on the ropes this whole gen so now it's nice to actually see them fight back for once.

[medman]

@crimsonwing69
I agree. As a multiconsole and pc gamer, I always look at it from the perspective of if you want to play the games badly enough, you will buy the devices that allow you to play the games you like. For me, Sony has more of the exclusives I love, so ps5 is no-brainer. I'm also getting a series x, but mostly because I skipped xbox one this gen so on day one gamepass has games there that I haven't played this gen. It's funny how people keep saying this deal is bad news for Sony, but never seem to mention Nintendo. All these companies are in the same boat, competing for our dollars. I have zero problems with this move by Microsoft, I'm only hoping that some of their now 23 studios produce some great single player content, and don't turn every production into GAAS.

[Elda]

True.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Can you give me an example of a fully third-party studio that has been purchased by Sony?

[FlavorLav01]

Yea but Sony also grew the majority of its studios organically, thoughtfully, purposefully, and over time. Microsoft is just throwing fistfuls of money at its lack of exclusives problem between generations, buying an entire publisher and hoping that resolves all their slacking for the last gen and a half. I wish them luck, I will be there with a new Xbox to check it out, but I don’t think this turns around the ship so to speak on MS’ Xbox leadership or as publishers themselves, especially if they turn many of these beloved franchises into GAAS & Services BS for every other title, only time will tell.

[CrimsonWing69]

@NecrumOddBoy

Does Insomniac count?

[derek]

Microsoft is big fat bloated entity that has no business being involved in the gaming industry. They will run Bethesda into the ground and lose interest in this latest gambit of theirs once it proves to be a useless leverage play.

[Army_of_Darkness]

It's time Sony. Get a development studio to make an awesome western RPG to compete with fallout and elder scrolls.

[darksky]

Elder scrolls is a massive ip. So sad if it goes exclusive to Xbox.

[mrsolidsteel20]

I’m not sure if Bethesda/Zenimax negotiated in the deal that they still want to make multiplatform titles, but regardless MS has the final word on what they can do.

I will never co-sign any of the big three publishers outright buying third party developers, because by doing that you’re alienating a huge portion of the gaming community.

That is why first and second party studios exist so they make exclusive software for that particular platform.

I will never understand MS, they could’ve easily created multiple studios of their own with the amount money that they spent on Zenimax.

Let’s hope MS actually does something with these studios that are under their umbrella now.

I don’t want to see another Rare incident.

[Atom666]

"Creating studios" isn't exactly easy though.

Nintendo has been cultivating its internal teams since the 80s. They're kind of the exception.

When Sony entered the market, they had to jump start that process and buy teams of their own. Something they continue to do.

MS did that a little, but lack of effort on their part over the years resulted in the abysmal 1st party we saw up until Spencer and Co. opened the wallet and floodgates in 2017ish.

It absolutely should have been sooner, but buying established teams is the only realistic way to get things moving quickly. To go from 5(?) 1st party teams to 23 in three years?

Plus, you can try to build a great team with talent like the Initiative, but that's far from easy, and who knows how it pans out for them. You cannot put a price tag on teams made of people who have worked together, trust one another, and know how to get things done already.

[mkis007]

Im curious if MS can manage this many studios, when they have had problems with the small number they had up until recently. Like just being able to buy them is one thing. Keeping them all happy and successful is another. It is why Sony works directly with those they buy for years before they buy them.

[Marquinho]

Games from Bethesda will become more accesible without losing quality under Microsoft umbrella. That's pure joy for consumers. You don't even need an Xbox for Game Pass (or xCloud)

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Before MS July event it was rumored that MS had a major acquisition and mic drop moment.

My guess is MS couldn't get the deal done in time but really wanted to announce the Zenimax buy out. That would of been huge in July. Looks like they were just in time to secure the deal just a day before pre-orders

[derek]

@Marquinho you Gamepass dudes sound just like cult members the way you evangelize that service.

[BillyG0AT]

If that's a spit in the face then what Sony has done over the years is pissing on our ancestors graves.

Jokes aside though, it's business. It happens in every aspect of it, too. It's like rule one of business club - Offer something the competition can't. Regardless of how you do it. If it's not illegal, it's just tough init.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Just like Spider man only on the PS4 version of Marvel's Avengers. It's just buissness then right?

Street Fighter is only on ps4. Its buissness don't be upset.

Final Fantasy 16 only on PS5? Just buissness.

Numerous DLC and expansions hitting the PS4 only or timed is just buissness also.

Sony was even making Starfield exclusive to PS5. If that deal went through its just buissness right? shrugs*

You can argue that MS acquisition dwarfs all of Sony's dealings combined (which it does) it doesn't matter, because it doesn't change the fact that Sony has been slapping ppl in the face this whole time.

[P_Bomb]

Is this your first gen gaming?

“Just like Spider man only on the PS4 version of Marvel's Avengers. It's just buissness then right? “

Just like Hulk, Dr Doom, Magneto, Sabertooth, Venom, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye exclusive to Xbox in Marvel Ultimate Alliance. You know Xbox had an exclusive Aquaman game too, right?

“ Street Fighter is only on ps4. Its buissness don't be upset. ”

Witcher 2 on XB says hi. Dead Rising 3, Sunset Overdrive. Quantum Break, Alan Wake. Wanna go back to Saints Row 1?

“ Final Fantasy 16 only on PS5? Just buissness.”

Been there done that with Splinter Cell Conviction only on XB. Then 1 year of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Still waiting for Portal: Still Alice and Trials: Evolution.

“ Numerous DLC and expansions hitting the PS4 only or timed is just buissness also.”

You don’t remember the $50 million deal for GTA Gay Tony/Lost and Damned first on Xbox?All the COD map packs first on 360? Tomb Raider Underworld still has exclusive XB DLC.

“ You can argue that MS acquisition dwarfs all of Sony's dealings combined (which it does) it doesn't matter, because it doesn't change the fact that Sony has been slapping ppl in the face this whole time.”

If only you were around in the Mass Effect era. I had to pay extra just to get the ME1 disc on PS3, many years after XB had it. Talkin’ to me about hard times...

[outsider1624]

"Sony has been slapping ppl in the face this whole time."

Wow! Holding a grudge are we?
So does that mean You forgive MS for slapping you this whole gen. I mean now that they bought exclusives.

Like PBomb says this must be your first time gaming.

[StoneColdCrazy]

A what?

[itsmebryan]

How does it spit in the face of Xbox and PC gamers? They get access to all of these games at a low price. It's not MS job to worry about Sony gamers. They are not their customers. Did Sony worry about Xbox gamers when they bought ghost wire and Deathloop as exclusives for PS5? Isn't that a spit in the face of gamers?

Sony could only afford timed exclusives and MS could afford the whole company. No one is more noble than the other.

[angelsx]

i don't play Bethesda games so i don't care.

[Kiwi66]

Would it be a spit in the face of gamers if any other company had brought them?

[sampsonon]

I will play their games and play my ps5. It's nice having a pc.

[Tedakin]

If Sony had bought Bethesda would you be saying that? At least MS will still put the games on PC. Sony would hog them all on their Playstation.

[Christopher]

Not if they keep the known IPs on the platforms upon which they're known to be playable. So far, they're keeping their other purchases on other platforms as well (Outer Worlds, Wasteland 3, etc.). But, new IP? They might keep those on their own platforms.

Furthermore, Bethesda is going to remain in publishing, so that tells me they are going to be publishing to all platforms with the games they publish.

I feel like Bethesda was a low price for such a company (Minecraft was $2.5b) and that while Microsoft "owns" Bethesda, Bethesda still does its things and there's an agreement to keep things on other platforms while giving Microsoft the ability to control where it goes digitally/cloud-wise as well as deciding on benefits for utilizing Xbox platforms over others. I feel like this whole purchase was more symbiotic in nature rather than just straight up only on Xbox. Microsoft gets profits and surety, Bethesda gets to continue doing what they were doing.

[RightFootGames]

A low price...

If Bethesda sold their games for $70 at 100% profit they would need to sell 107,142,857 games.

In all 34 years of Bethesda being in business there is zero chance they have made 7.5 billion total in profit.

[Wulfer]

Then you and many others should have shut your trap about MS and Xbox not having games! What did you expect Microsoft to do leave the market? This was never going to happen no matter how many fanboys wished it!

[TheEroica]

Can someone pass this guy some me kleenex?

[outsider1624]

I wouldn't say that. I mean we were the ones shouting out "MS has no Gamez!". Ms got angry and said fine and took their cheque book. I never expected MS to put up quite a fight like this though.

[obz]

Oh shut up. You utter hypocrite. It's only okay when Sony has exclusives huh broke b*itch?

[Ursozord]

I felt the same when Street Fighter remained exclusive on the Playstation. In fact, I have felt it many times over all the old generations of console: Always with some specific game it magically changed direction. One thing that helps a lot is to have a PC and just jump over those walls, as i played Street Fighter 5 with PC help.

[MTVBG]

@Marquinho

You're embarrassing yourself.

Bethesda will still self-publish and their agreement with Microsoft protects that. No company in their right mind - especially one whose games sell least well on Xbox - would agree to be exclusive to Microsoft in that manner.

fr0sty is correct, and you don't seem to understand that business ownership does not always mean absolute control over everything the 'owned' company does.

Bethesda and Microsoft have both already clarified that Microsoft do not have final say over what platform Bethesda chooses to publish on.

Reading your comments has been physically painful. In future, say nothing unless you know what you're talking about.

You've been heavily ratio'd here repeatedly for good reason. Take a hint.

[Nintentional]

But I bet you’re totally okay with FF VI being a PS5 exclusive and rejoiced when you heard the announcement 👌🏼

If it was announced that Sony purchased Bethesda (they can’t afford it though), you’d probably be on cloud nine 🙃

[Da12RespectA]

How?

[isarai]

that has yet to be seen. Yeah it CAN be a "kick in the balls" but from the sounds of it things will still be multiplatform focused like the Mojang/Minecraft acquisition. I think they would like to recoup that money fast, and making their games exclusive chokes that prospect. But hey, maybe they will, who knows🤷‍♂️

[CorndogBurglar]

MS will want to start recouping some of that 7.5 billion they spent. One of the best ways is to keep all these games multiplatform for the forseeable future. Why limit hour sales for those games to only Xbox users when you can more than double it with PS5 customers also?

[crazyCoconuts]

Because it's a carrot to try and get PS players over to MS platform where they make even more money on future game and service purchases?

[darthv72]

That is their plan. Already existing and well established multiplat franchises will remain that way. New IP's will be exclusive to xbox/pc.

[Elda]

Including Nintendo & Stadia. Keeping most of those games multi-plat would be a wise business decision if they want to reap the rewards of money but if this is all about MS wanting exclusive bragging rights then the future of Bethesda may be exclusive to the MS/XB platform solely which would hamper them making that multi-platform money.

[Atom666]

I don't know. Why spend 7.5 billion when you could spend a whole lot less on some kind of exclusive deal on stuff? Based on the net earnings I've seen floating around on Zenimax, they're looking at 15+ years to recoup the purchase price if they continue with business as usual.

Even if they just wanted to drive Gamepass numbers, they could sign a deal to deliver Fallout 5 or whatever on gp day one. Would be a lot cheaper.

You make a deal like this when you're thinking big picture. Say ES6 sells 10 million on PS5. Subtract Sony's cut, and reduce to reflect sales and just net proceeds, and you're looking at a nice $200-300 million netted over a couple years.

Now think of what it means if games like ES or Fallout or Starfield attract just 5 million new gamers to Xbox because they are exclusive...

Best case scenario for MS is if they ignore the short term sales they'd get on PS5, and try to grab more market share for long term profits by making them exclusive.

[isarai]

@crazyCoconuts and darth72

Excpept according to Phil they aren't interested in console sales, and why would they try and leverage this for more XSX sales they are taking a loss on when they can toss them on multiple platforms and reap far more for less investment. But like i said, who knows, we'll just have to wait and see

[TheDibbler]

It is all speculation at this point but I don't think the majority of these games will go multiplatform. I see the Minecraft example very differently as that game was already on PS4 when the acquisition was made. Trying to pull the game at that point would have only hurt them and the active player base on the platform. They released Minecraft Dungeons there after the fact just due to already having the base in place. This on the other hand is different because we are talking about unreleased games like Starfield, ES6, etc. I'm betting they keep these games exclusive for the sake of selling more GamePass subscriptions. Consistent revenue that you can depend on is always better than one-off purchases and this is where building up your content portfolio makes sense. Netflix wouldn't bother to acquire content from other sources only to also allow it on Amazon and Hulu. Microsoft doesn't care if you buy an Xbox or not but if they can get PS5 owners to use Xcloud and GamePass for $15 a month then that is a win and cheap for the PlayStation user.

[darthv72]

to put it simply, Minecraft was already a multiplat release. MS knew the value of keeping it that way and expanding on it even more than the original creator thought possible. Merchandising and marketing... the game got huge. Like what Disney did with Star Wars vs what Lucas wasnt doing. And MS will keep key multiplat franchises exactly that... multiplat. New IP's from these studios will be on the case by case basis which means XB/PC get dibs (right of first refusal). MS was not stupid, this is a huge win for their platform and esp game pass.

[crazyCoconuts]

MS still cares about the Xbox because it provides them a captive audience that will buy all other games through their service, giving them the 30% cut. That's something they don't get unless you have an Xbox. I don't know what the % profit is for GamePass, let's say it's 30% as well (and I feel I'm being very generous here), one full price game purchase via their store = around 6 months of Game Pass profit. That's still gotta be a big part of the equation

[jedagab751]

I get paid over $90 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I'd be able to do it but my best friend earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless. Heres what I've been doing,

HERE► https://is.gd/WeWork1

[Ulf]

Unquestionably, MS will position their multiplat titles with deals that place them prominently in other stores, net them large returns, etc.

Gamers will see it the same, but the business behind the scenes will favor MS. MS makes more money from each copy of Android sold than Google does, thanks to patent licensing -- ponder that for a moment.

In the end, they don't care whose brandname you buy. They care about making money from the transaction. All the better for them, if someone else does all the work.

[masterfox]

Is indeed a big news, but this wont change the reasons on why Playstation brand is the number one gaming device in the world, PS4 is on top not because of Bethesda dont forget that.

MS doesnt have a good history of handling single player games , that's why is worrisome this adquisition by them, overall in the end the ones that will be affected are all gamers and Bethesda devs, but yet again this is only my opinion.

[ClayRules2012]

I agree with you.

[medman]

I agree with you.

[-Foxtrot]

I swear to God if they force or influence Bethesda to add co-op or multiplayer in the next MAIN Fallout or Elder Scrolls game I'll be p*****

It's been shown Bethesda can't do online things and the amount of new bugs co-op alone would bring is just simply not worth it. Elder Scrolls Online got off to a really rocky start and Fallout 76 is trash.

I'd rather them focus on keeping the single player bugs down and adding new features than worrying for months just trying to get co-op working, it's not a "at the push of a button" feature a lot of people seem to think it is.

[BillyG0AT]

^This 100%. I just hope MS actually helps them make games less buggy as well.

[ClayRules2012]

I never considered this. Oh my, I wonder how messy this could be if Microsoft did force or influence Bethesda to do this..😱

[aconnellan]

That’s definitely a fair call, and I’d be disappointed if they went down that route.

That said, Bethesda has already made Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 - if they went ahead and made more multiplayer games (or single player with multi tacked on), I don’t think it’s fair to say that’d be solely from Microsoft’s influence, because they’ve started doing that already

[TheDibbler]

I have to slightly disagree with your assessment here. Microsoft's studio did a bad job with Halo 5..........Infinite looks disappointing graphically at this stage but that is still to be determined but Gears 4 and 5 were awesome single player games. Bungie's games were single player back in the day as well and they were excellent. I think it is more about having the right leadership at the studio than just being owned by Microsoft in general.

[Shane Kim]

You can't have played Gears 4.

[Elda]

I agree. I would think it would be wise for MS to let Bethesda keep doing what they do & all MS needs to do is sit back & collect those coins.

[crazyCoconuts]

i get where you're coming from, but that's not the way acquisitions typically work. almost always there's a change required to make it make sense. otherwise no sense in a transaction taking place.
so whether it's as simple as combining shared services or more transformatiive like shifting to more of a GaaS approach, there have to be changes afoot - things cannot stay the same.
Plus, wasn't Bethesda in a bit of a rut lately? Something has to change that trajectory - MS has to make that happen

[ClayRules2012]

@medman

I agree back with you haha.

[Bennibop]

I give it a couple year for Microsoft to shut and amalgamate some of these studios if they are not successful.

[yellowgerbil]

IT is a problem if you look at the near monopoly overnight in the popular western RPG genre.
Now they own.
Fable.
TES
Fallout
Outerworlds
Wasteland
and that Obsidian game trying to be TES.
Sony has
quasi RPGs of Horizon and God of War, neither being true RPGS but action games with RPG elements. Sony needs to work quickly to get a western RPG, Maybe the can convince EA to sell them Bioware or something to get a ready team (seeing as EA is ruining Bioware and probably will shut them down like every other developer ever).

[masterfox]

you know let's think a minute here, is it really going to affect Sony?, hmm the answer is nope not all , not one bit, probably the ones that it will be affected will be instead all the gamer customers and Bethesda Devs, why ? well that's because before the buyout their games only depend of Bethesda ideology but now it depends of Bethesda and final word is from MS, yeah that's going to turn out pretty well right?, so why it won't affect Sony?, well take for example Fallout 4, this games was released 2015, now take for example Fallout 3 this games was released in 2008, Elder Scroll V Skyrim was released at 2011, and the sequel of Elder Scroll was release in...oh I'm sorry they haven't release a sequel yet lol, so see what I'm getting into here ?, meanwhile MS will be waiting for new games from Bethesda and recover their investment Sony will keep releasing new games, new experiences, and Playstation will keep growing while MS will keep waiting ;)

Playstation winning formula is about thriving in technology and use this technology to create new games, new experiences, evolve classic fan favorite games using the new technology, and you know what this winning formula it was well known in the past by NIntendo and Sega, but this formula was forgotten by them and only Sony retain the gaming formula (the gaming industry roots) and this why PS is the number one in this gaming industry, so you think one gaming company that has some multipltform IPs will affect decades of gaming experience that Sony has?, lol I think not ;)

[outsider1624]

Sony don't need to buy any. They can get any of their studios to make one. If guerrilla who made Killzone series can make a semi rpg game like Horizon then im sure others can too.
They just need a good story to tell.

[Lighter9]

You really missed the opportunity to say, "Ain't that a kick in the head?"

[ClayRules2012]

I have that song in my head now...thanks🤦🏼 ‍♂️😂

[WelkinCole]

It does not really bother me at all because personally I never actually played any Beth game.

[Shane Kim]

Me neither. Last Elder Scrolls was Oblivion for me and Fallout 2. But we are not alone, so...

[DarthZoolu]

Fallout 2 Remake gonna fso

[FlavorLav01]

Doom, Dishonored, and Wolfenstein were the only series I cared about. They can keep everything else personally.

[Lexreborn2]

After Bethesda announcing they will still be self publishing. I think it’s more telling of the articles of people making it seem like this was some end all be all for MS. When it’s just another acquisition, I remember when Mojang was bought people said PS4 was dead because MS was going to make it exclusive.

Instead, it’s been more then alive and even with mojang games on gamepass. People are still buying PS4 and Switch copies without stopping.

Bethesda being bought just means more money from higher up. But, they are going to be developing on all platforms unless MS REALLY REALLY needs an exclusive from them.

[crazyCoconuts]

I think they will need those exclusives. Sony's dominance doesn't show signs of letting up at the moment, and MS can't have more gamers switching platforms. Folks can dream with xCloud, but in today's reality Game Pass needs XBox, and gamers won't be subbing to Game Pass on their Playstations. Gotta keep pushing the hardware at least for the time being

[Destiny1080]

i personally don't play any of their games and they'll be all on playstation anyway and be even better with haptic feedback & 3d sound

[ClayRules2012]

Yes, Sony’s goals won’t change. They’ll continue (as they did with PS3/PS4) give more freedom to their studios to create new iPs and continue franchise’s of games that were successful in this current generation.

And knowing what the PS5’s DualSense controller will bring to their vision for gaming in this coming Next Generation, I’m not the least bit worried.

Sony knows what them and their studios do best, deliver amazing games to gamers on PlayStation. Their quality won’t diminish & isn’t in jeopardy because of Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. I’m all for competition, that’d be great, for Microsoft to have a lot more amazing exclusive console games, more than Gears, Forza, and Halo (I know they’d come to PC too) that you can’t get on PS5, battling for GOTY, all for genuine fun and seeing fans from both sides raving about how awesome the games were with one another and why they thought so, with respect for each other’s opinion on why they thought so, that’d be awesome. Will this happen, only time will tell.

[Elda]

I think the acquisition is great for MS but if they decide in the future to keep all Bethesda games on XB platform imo I don't think they'll make as much money far as Bethesda selling games as multi-plats. If they do decide to keep all Bethesda games on their XB platform this will not hurt Sony or Nintendo in any way.

[ClayRules2012]

Yeah, I agree with you on all those points!

The acquisition is great for Microsoft, but they’re the ones with the most to when it comes to them & Sony.

Sony is not hurt by this, and they’ll be just fine.

[Elda]

I don't see it as a giant blow to Sony,Sony has great studios for their exclusive portfolio. Bethesda has provided some entertaining games but if MS decides in the future to keep them off of PS & Nintendo consoles it definitely won't hurt or break them what so ever. Solely PS & Nintendo console owners can play these games on PC & if Bethesda games in the future are a must have to play then folks can buy an XB console as their second to go to console knowing the S is only $300. Imo if MS is thinking about money then it's more likely most of Bethesda main franchises will remain multi-platform with new titles being XB timed or solely exclusive. On the other hand..if XB wants to broaden/expand on their XB exclusive portfolio then there's a strong possibility most of Bethesda games in the upcoming future will be XB platform exclusives. We'll see what the future holds for Bethesda.

[BrettAwesome]

By the time any of the big Bethesda games are out, you can grab a second hand Series X for $250

[The_Sage]

So... You're thinking around 2028?

[Ghostbob]

sony will be fine they have the best studios and they themselves will be getting new studios.

[Battlestar23]

Exclusives are pro customer.

[xxShadow-Shockxx]

Here's my stance on this, if Microsoft keeps all existing titles on PlayStation so that way they don't screw a huge part of the Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom etc. fan-bases and does this to have day 1 Game pass Bethesda games then I'm all for it. I personally am one of the biggest Elder Scrolls fans, but if they go exclusive to Microsoft then I will be done with the series and all other Bethesda games. Buying exclusivity to franchises that have been multi-platform is a terrible business practice regardless of which company it is and is a huge slap in the face to the fans who don't have the ability to buy multiple consoles, it would be smartest for Microsoft to keep all existing franchises multi-platform so they don't lose out on all of that money and then use the newly acquired studios to produce new IP's as Microsoft exclusives.

[sin7279]

Lol

[Einhander1971]

When I'm playing PS5 exclusives, from the likes of Naughty Dog. I personally couldn't care how much Microsoft waste there money.

[Darkborn]

Still funny that Microsoft has to release 2 ps5 exclusives lol while they still have 0 for release.

[RPGer]

In my point of view, most Bathesda game is lacking quality, a thing I never really miss. Rage 2, Falout 76, Elder Online. Most Bathesda's have the exact same physics, which feels cheap comparing to games like The Witcher 3, or even FFXV(barely a good game). Let alone it shallow and bland dialogues. Also, very buggy releases. Furthermore, the graphics are really outdated. Even for their fans standards their games has been bad and moderate at best. But hey each to his own.

[outsider1624]

No you're absolutely right. It's their bloody engine. Its so outdated. They keep using the same engine. Take a look at their character models. They look like playdoh. Anyway hopefully now with this acquisition they'll move on to UE5.

[FreeFallFrenzy]

Microsoft keeps gobbling up has-been studios. Big whoop. Sony still has much stronger studios and from the sounds of it, most games from ZeniMax are still going to be multiplatform, so no need to worry about anything atm. I do like this acquisition though, since it does even things up on a more technical level. Id Studio has great software powering its games that can be great for MS's other FPS games.

[northpaws]

It is a little sad to see a big publisher got bought out, it doesn't affect me much but I was never a big fan of Bethesda to begin with, I like the Wolfenstein series, but never played Skyrim or Fallout (any fallout 😅), couldn't finish Doom. Just not my cup of tea I guess, but I can imagine fans of those series are tempted to get an Xbox now. Which I would too if I am a big fan of Bethesda, but either way, it is not like they would have exclusive comes out tomorrow, probably won't see much changes until at least few years down the road, maybe there will be an Xbox Series X Two by that time.

But call me crazy, if Sony had the chance to buy Bethesda or insomniac, I would pick Insomniac any day, it is not about the amount of games or the quality of games, it just feels more right, more aligned to Sony.

And series, if Sony has 7.5 billions to spare, I would rather they spent them on multiple smaller potential developers, or expands existing one.

I am always curious about the business model of gamepass though, putting all these big games in a subscription services, where people don't even need to subscribe until the game they want drops, pay $15 max, finish, then let it expires...

And if you want people to keep subscribing for a longer period, then you would need to make these games longer, maybe cut into more episodes, so they need to keep paying. No idea, not a business man, guess we will see one day.

[Shadowsteal]

Sony acquired Insomniac for less than 300 million. That one studio is putting in WORK. Released Spider-Man in 2018 with 3 DLC now Miles Morales and a new Ratchet & Clank.

[Goodkush]

This changes nothing.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Personal onpipion here, On the back off that acquisition tbh xbox series x looks a much buy to me, I play all formats but to tell the truth i was unsure about purchasing Microsofts machine this time round. My PS5 money was and still is my first priority, but now i know this I can't not get the xbox aswell.

[sampsonon]

It doesn't change anything. PS5 gamers that have a gaming pc get Sony exclusives and can play xbox games on their pc. This is the difference between the two consoles. Nothing else matters. I also believe the MS is fine with that as well.

[cheetah]

This move reeks of desperation. At the end of the day MS have bought up a huge chunk of the gaming world and as is clearly evident by everything else they do, will proceed to destroy the legacy of some great franchises and lose all the creative talent. The games will be in name only, all the smart people will leave.

[Christopher]

DooooOOOOooooOOOOO *breathes* oooOOOOoooMMMMM

[franwex]

I don’t see how as PS owners will still receive buggy Bethesda games.

[2ndhandcorn]

More like a kick in the flaps lol author has a diversity issue ha .

[Melankolis]

I don't think MS would go this far because of the competition with Sony. They want to monopolize gaming subscription. They fear Google and Amazon so they even bought a major publisher. Google and Amazon can buy any publishers they want, but in the gaming industry, they're late to the market. MS is already experienced. Buy Zenimax before it's bough by other company. It's crucial for western/US audiences.

This way, there's no chance Elder Scrolls would appear on Stadia, even it's still possible it would appear on Sony or Nintendo's consoles.

MS's goal is quite high. They want to survive in the traditional gaming business while in gaming subscription business, they want to make sure they have no competition, "die you Stadia!, back off Amazon!".

[Christopher]

This is really accurate. Good comment.

Just note, we'll really know if they remove things like TESO from Stadia within the next year or so. Xbox 100% wants people to buy via Xbox and then stream them from their servers or their home console instead of giving another competitor a foothold into the industry. Sony and Nintendo are rocking hardware, so Microsoft is moving into another territory while keeping up with hardware.

[RightFootGames]

Yes i'm sure it's coincidence that Microsoft keeps going after companies with strong ties to Sony. Like Bethesda which had two timed exclusivity deals and nearly every game they have made as permanent fixtures on PSNow which they supported way better than gamepass. Yep nothing they have done has anything to do with Sony... You're 100% correct and 100% not deflecting for Microsoft 100% *breaths* one hundred percent!

[Melankolis]

@Righfoot
Wrong. Just because of 2-3 deals with your competitor you have to swallow the whole company?. That's so childish. Believe me, Microsoft (Nadella) is way smarter than that.

That's not how business works. Right now this is the right time to kill Stadia when it's still an infant, before Google make a drastic move. It is also the right time to give Amazon a stern warning to stay away from cloud gaming.

With Ballmer as CEO, Microsoft lost so many opportunities in technology trends, smartpone, android, marketplace, social media, etc. Now they have Azure and Xbox brand. Combined, they can make cloud gaming empire, there's no way they let go this chance.

[Christopher]

@RightFootGames: Bethesda has had many more deals with Microsoft and the same games in PSNow have previously or currently are on Game Pass.

[Psychonaut85]

I personally don’t care about any of Bethesda proper’s games, it will sadden me to see Dishonored, Doom, Evil Within studios work become exclusive though. I mean I’ll eventually get an Xbox Series Something, but still. PS is home for me. Todd Howard said they want people to play wherever they want, but Todd Howard is a lying sack of sh!t, so that doesn’t mean much...

[Italiano1234567]

If u think its a blow ur mistaking. What game of theirs has sold good recently other then doom. Bethesda is still self publishing. Business as usual. Games will go day and date in gamepass but still be multiplat

[Ju]

From a games perspective I don't care that much about it. I would no have bought a PS5 for those games. Sure, now they might be an incentive for game pass. I principal, I take issue with this, however. It leads to more inbreeding, less creative talent, less competition and hopefully won't become a trend that studios can make more money selling off instead of creating new IPs. We'll see.

[gunnerforlife]

I don't really care about the acquisition Tbh seeing as I've never played any of Bethesda games before, but I find it funny! Especially when sony was buying timed exclusives and doing other things, the hate sony was getting!! But Ms does this... And they're getting Praise! Hmm... 2faced community.

[Kakashi Hatake]

Instead of creating, just make sure people have to play long time familiar franchises on your platform. Sounds like a scumbag move. Guess MS just aren't very good at creating.

[NomadR3aper]

Let's hope they actually help Bethesda make better games and not end up like RARE. Maybe that $7.5B could have been spent helping their current studios create something great.

[OhReginald]

Still hard to take in. I'm a big bethseda fan, but I also love playing on Playstation. I could understand buying a developer or buy some IPs.....but a whole publisher? This is the reality though. Sad day for PlayStation.

[Juancho51]

How is it a kick in the balls lol, they remain making games for all platforms, and their games are a bug ridden mess to begin with. They'll be great together, maybe theyll bring something good to the table this Gen knowing Sony pumps out AAA exclusives like nobody's business.

[leahcim]

I am expecting a response of equal impact from Sony, we fans deserves it.
Square Enix maybe....

[kryteris]

should have been developing exclusives we haven't seen for ages.

[anast]

Let's not pretend they bought a prime Bethesda.

[glennhkboy]

This deal put the MS strategy of value+quantity front & center. Sony is still following the strategy of individual high quality exclusives (as a Xbox gamer, I do envy games like Horizon Down Zero & Spiderman...). However, the sheer quantity of GamePass now (existing games + EA + Bethesda + id +......) make me hard to jump ship to PS5.

[derek]

Sony could absolutely buy Capcom etc , i dont know why these idiots keep saying things like this.

[nommers]

I can't see this as a win for MS or anybody to be frank. MS's handling of studios and working with them is so horrendous. They could have had a potentially great game with Scalebound but they forced a lot of practices onto the game that Platinum didn't want. Rare hasn't been doing anything worth mentioning in a while. Halo is teetering as is Gears because of their old style of campaign shooter-esque designs.

[dcbronco]

Living in the past only causes you to make the same mistakes again. It's what makes companies lose. I bet Intel wishes they had stopped gouging and innovated instead of focusing on Bulldozer.

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

Agreed. I've seen posts from people who actually believe that this acquisition is somehow going to mark the end of PlayStation. Hyperbolic much? Worst case, PS gamers will also need a PC to access Bethesda games, but many of us have one of those (it's how I'm typing out this post, actually). It's a huge acquisition, sure, but it doesn't change the fact that the PS5 will still be home to a ton of excellent games, many of which will be PS exclusive.

Besides, there are three conditions for this acquisition to mean a whole lot besides more revenue for MS:
Upcoming games need to be MS exclusive or have MS exclusive content.
Games need to actually come out for said systems rather than being in development hell for eternity.
Games need to actually be good, preferably great. No Fallout 76 type BS or that really isn't much to brag about.

[Benjaminkno]

It didn't work out so well with the Rare acquisition.

[mafiahajeri]

Good thing I hate all their games 🤣🤣

[Charal]

I found all the articles about this subject a little bit over the top.

First, to be precise, MS has bought Zenimax, which own Bethesda. That’s a little detail, but it may help to see the big picture clearer.

Second, this is above all a move to expand game pass catalog, and for people adhering to this business model it is a good news to now have access to Bethesda catalog.

And finally, for PS5, time will tell if futur titles developed by Bethesda will skip Sony machine or not.
For what I know, their is no announcement of big titles from Bethesda on next, even if we can assume that a next Doom/Fallout/Elder Scrolls will come up at some point of time.

My 2 cents: current catalog from Bethesda is very weak, except Doom. I believe Zenimax sale was kind of a bargain for MS: low price for a company not at the top currently.

Let’s see if MS will be able to get things up here, track record is not very good for them in this area.

[AmUnRa]

O now 7,5 billion ia a bargain? O boy🙄

[Mithan]

It is only a kick in the balls if Microsoft starts to make future games exclusive to Xbox, PC only, which they may not.

We don't know at this point obviously.

That being said, TES6, Starfield and Fallout 5 coming to Xbox and PC only would be a kick in the teeth to Sony and would create some tough decisions for people IF that happened.

[RabbitFly]

It's an interesting development. And even though I am still on the fence about getting a series X, I still like that this is changing up the industry. If this ends up with Microsoft being a power house on exclusive titles, then great. I would love to have a good reason to get a series x if that means New and great experiences.

My worrie however is whether bethesda Just went from the ashes to the fire. People are talking about how this is good because zenimax have been blamed for pushing bgs, in particular, into bad monetization practices and how Microsoft buying them out will give these studios the freedom they need ro create great things. And if that happens I am all for it, but I dont see how this is the likely outcome.

Microsoft does not have a good track record with cultivating studios they purchase at all, quite the opposite and they are themselves one of the more prominent entities in pushing services over quality content.

I am not personally as against the idea of gass as I have had many great experiences with so called Gaas titles, but this optimism seems a bit incredulous to me.

I am hoping for the best outcome, but my hope is certainly held back by a healthy dose of scepticism and trepidation.

[mastershredder]

This shit is getting old. I'm not buying multiple systems just to play different franchises (it's a nice gesture to your love of gaming, but not everyone is about first party exclusives). I remember when Rare did this, I gave them the big finger to them and their creep-about-it sell-out asses have not given them a dime since. Guess what? It's real easy, I don't NEED the game, there is so much out there. Sorry Bethesda, Rare made this mistake (same form and bad)...I count the days until your re-org, mass layoffs and calls for abandon ship from your veteran employees.

[Greatball1987]

If TES & FO are exclusive, then yes, Sony's plans will (or at least need to) change. There's no games that can match these style of western-styled open-world action RPGs. Maybe CD Projekt Red but I didn't get into TW3 so I don't consider that a contender against TES, not even close.

Sony will need to do something to fill that very specific, gigantic void. Lesbian zombie stories about golfing aren't going to carry them this generation, I'm afraid.

[Hedstrom]

Sony should aquire some RPG and FPS studio, then they should be on even playing field.

[GreenDragonCVR]

Oppositionally-determined brands, with distinct, characteristic IPS are good for gamers. Love this, Xbox has more reason to BE.

[Da12RespectA]

Real "GAMERS" will enjoy the both systems

[C-H-E-F]

Ehh, Bethesda games have been on a downward spiral tbh, FALLOUT games haven't been all that great, Skyrim released in 2011, Dishonored released in 2016, Doom Eternal has hype behind it (will be a multiplat) and Microsoft said they will honor the exclusive agreement with the current PS5 bethesda games Deathloop & Ghostwire. I really don't see a huge catalog from bethesda that Sony will be hurting to miss out on. Especially when they have Demon Souls as a launch title. Also, have purchased and created several studios up to this point that output better games than the bethesda studios. Yes their CATALOG is amazing, but if you look at recent works it's not so great. 7.5 billion is the price of the whole CATALOG, not of the studio in its current state, because I would def. have the studio at it's current state worth a few hundred million at best. However, it's a great acquisition by Microsoft for sure, they need studios and are buying them regardless of the dollar amount thats why it's great that xbox has Microsoft behind it. We will see how this plays out, especially if Microsoft does as they say and let Bethesda continue to make multiplatform games (Because in turn Microsoft will make a ton more money) then nothing will have changed, Sony just won't have anymore console exclusives.

[rataranian]

Not really. No one really buys consoles for third party stuff. Its more for first party exclusives. Then you could always get the pc versions if you wanted those games. No need to buy an xbox just for that.

[darklaw]

this really could be a dumb move by microsoft, The Zenimax owners who got paid their 7.5 billion could start up a whole new biz and recruit the star programmers from bethesda, Nah I'm sure there is a clause in place.

[Wrex369]

Oblivion defined the 360 just as much as Halo. Believe me if you had a 360 and didn't have Halo, DEFINITELY had oblivion. Ffs this acquisition was genius. And can only make both parties better.

[GamingSinceForever]

I wouldn't call it genius. They did it because it was available and they could afford to do it. The price they paid was more than what most companies could afford to gamble on. In fact, if this things blows up they will just absorb it because they can afford to.

[DJStotty]

Will only take 62 months of standard gamepass price to make most of that back lol, half that if people pay for ultimate

[DJStotty]

Just be content in knowing that you will soon be playing a Microsoft 1st party game on your PS5.

I can almost hear Microsoft doing the Asda price pocket tap

[XBManiac]

Bethesda, with Fallout 76 and TESO have a long experience with games as a service. It is really good news for Microsoft strategy.

[Ulf]

Microsoft made every dime they spent on Minecraft back, and then some... and it's still going.

I have to wonder if Bethesda doesn't have something pretty amazing up their sleeves, and I doubt MS will change them.

[CertifiedGamer]

How is this a low blow, Everything from Microsoft is still coming to PC. This is like saying it is a low blow to Nintendo.

[Rikimaru1977]

lol, i must be the only one that couldn't care less about this acquisition. Maybe one of those game sold past 2 million copies and was never even consider GOTY candidate. This Acquisition was a desperate move, people are acting like because of this Acquisition Sony/ Nintendo are worried. Now if they had bought EA, ubi, capcom, bandai, activision, team ninja, fromsoftware or activision now i'll be worried.

[andyo13]

There’s not a single game I even like from bethesda.

[BABI-PANGPANG]

Haven't bought a single Bethesda game since Skyrim so imo let them have it.

[LucidIllusion]

People are really overrating this acquisition. The populace are so easily impressed and controllable it's scary.