Microsoft Has Just Bought Bethesda, Giving It Doom, Fallout, Elder Scrolls And Wolfenstein

Wow. That's a quality catalogue to have for your next gen system!

Microsoft have the money to buy anybody, this may give them some advantage in the next generation, although it could be like when they bought Minecraft creators, the game still remains multi platform.

I couldn't be happier. This means that people who have Gamepass may get access to even MORE games. Imagine being able to stream the next elder scrolls to your phone anywhere...

Watch out playstation, xbox is coming for you!!!

Wow, I was not expecting that.

That's BIG!! Wow

Wow. If you can't beat the competition, buy them.

Woah! Microsoft’s really been stepping up their exclusive game recently. Hopefully they keep sending games to the Switch.

What a turn of events 😮😮😮😵😵😵

Exciting news, I am hoping MS can turn Bethesda into a competitive component for them to leverage.As for Nintendo, they may get an odd release, but I see this as a boon for MS, especially with Doom and Wolfenstein, both good fits for Xbox series X.

Now my question is in what way - if any - will this affect the release of Doom Eternal on Switch?

They must want the next elder scrolls to be an exvlusive for xbox, be it timed or absolute.

They are one Japanese studio away from going sicko mode.

Go get them Phil.

Well that might explain why Doom Eternal for the Switch has gone radio silent.

if I ever buy net generation, I think it's decided

Was NOT expecting this at all!

People have short memories if they think this is good news, remember Rare for example?

NOOOOOOOOOO if they lock those series behind Xbox I'll be pissed!

Once again Microsoft simply buys exclusives instead of making their own. And once again I have no interest in these games. Microsoft doing jack all to make me interested in a Series X.

Well they had some problems with The Evil Within 2, Prey etc. not selling so well plus Fallout 76 also having problems. It doesn't surprise me that much TBH.

Xbox Gamepass is SERIOUS value. This is going to be an interesting few years now!

This was a big power move for them. They must have a lot of faith in their new console if they were willing to spend all that money.

Already against Bethesda due to their habbit of continuously releasing games with huge gamebreaking bugs and not caring because it sells anyway.

I have all platforms so I will happily continue not buying their games on my Xbox, too.

Wow!
I'm also an Xbox man but won't be jumping on the next gen until Elder Scrolls 6

This makes me wonder what next generation will be like. At this rate we are going to see less multiplatform titles and more exclusives, which historically has pushed a fair number of console sales. The X360’s initial multiplat success was due to its head start and Sony’s screw ups with the PS3 price and online. Sony learnt (MS didn’t surprisingly) and realised it lacked exclusives to claw itself back like the PS3 did. So now, it seeks exclusives galore.

@MisterWhen I used to blame MS for Rare's decline as well, but over the years I came to conclude that it was their own doing.
But hey, they are making a comeback, look at Sea of Thieves!
I'll never forgive them for butchering Banjo and Perfect Dark though..

Wow that's huge. Hopefully they'll keep adding Doom mods on Switch

Well, it actually might be good news since recently Bethesda has been botching every franchise they own. I hope Microsoft will turn things around.

@BulkSlash Well, they've recently announced that it's coming pretty soon.

I want to see Nintendo acquiring more studios. They could definitely use more hands on deck for new consistent exclusives, and they've treated Monolith Soft very well.

About this acquisition, I don't think it'll impact Nintendo much since both companies have been supporting the Switch. Sure, maybe Microsoft has only done some of their smaller exclusives, but those are quality games.

Wow - that'll be a huge exclusive when the next Elder Scrolls game comes out, even though that will be years from now.

I say "exclusive," but all their stuff comes to PC as well, so really it's just exclusive against Sony.

Microsoft buying Bethesda is the only way to keep Skyrim off the PS5. lol

Crazy stuff. Glad I own a PC.

Got the popcorn ready, this will cause a meltdown on NeoGaf.

What a move. Microsoft is already losing money on Xbox for years and $7.5billion for Bethesda is so risky. They gambled big on gamepass.

I like this. If im gonna get a partner to the switch, it will be Xbox. 😊

Clickbait article title. Miscosoft bought ZeniMax which owns Bethesda and a lot more.
Me pointing this out changes nothing because NL doesn't care.

It's all the Zenimax studios MS ownes now (by buying Zenimax).
Bethesda, iD, Arkane Studios Machine Games, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games and Roundhouse Studios

Microsoft: “Blow they piece of junk OUT OF THE SKY!!”

next time, in a parallel universe, nintendo IS BOUGHT BY microsoft

Hopefully Microsoft goes third party soon, even by acquiring ZeniMax that still won't save them in Japan as all those studios and IPs aren't popular with the Japanese crowd. Now if only Sony is smart and just buy Activision then they had ownerships of IPs like Call of Duty, Pitfall, Crash, and Spyro which would be a bigger blow to Microsoft since Call of Duty (a series popular with Xbox players) would be a PlayStation exclusive.

Dang, watch the quality fall off... Doesn't bother me as I PC predominantly but be interesting to see if they have timed exclusives for their digital content and/or physicals

This is such a random bombshell, I'm in disbelief right now.
This is bad news, really bad news.

Big whoa. If this means exclusives, I'm going Xbox. PS5 is an impressive machine, but the software shown so far has just been so whatever, and honestly PS4 was not that big of a deal to me. If this gen comes down to choosing where Bethesda goes, I'm picking the $300 xbox

I'm not a Bethesda fan at all (hated Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Dishonoured and haven't been back since) but this is a staggeringly massive move. Well played, MS. That is some serious clout and there's going to be a lot of people switching platform or picking up a second console as a result of this. This generation has just got very interesting. Wow.

@clvr You know this could become like a Minecraft and Cuphead thing where Microsoft own the properties but still dropped the games onto other platforms. Remember that Cuphead is also on PS4, a platform that originally wasn't suppose to get the game.

We have a fight again, no longer a one sided affair xD

@Sakaixx,

It's peanuts to a company like Microsoft, their console business is only very small in relation to their overall company.

@MisterWhen That was a looong time ago under much different leadership. Clearly Rare, and the other first party studios Microsoft acquired, are all in a much better place now.

@Camek48 Microsoft tried to buy them in 2001. Hiroshi Yamauchi was insanely offended by them for some reason. There's a giant folklore about what Yamauchi told Ballmer to do after the conversation happened.

@NightBeast It's weird, I pretty much check the site multiple times a day but I somehow missed that one! Hopefully Eternal is definitely still coming and id weren't just playing dumb or unaware of the announcement that was on its way.

Best Day Ever!

@johnvboy even with their never ending its of cash even MS cant afford to pay that much for Bethesda(or their parent) and not use that to boost the gamepass ecosystem.They will undoubtedly honour any existing commitments etc, but elder scrolls, Doom and Fallout being exclusives is a big pull for a lot of people towards MS ecosystem. I do expect them to still bring games to Switch as they have been doing with Ori and Cuphead.

Looks to be the biggest gaming aquisition since Tencent bought Supercell.

This is an insane purchase from Microsoft. This could have massive consequences if they decide to not release Elder Scrolls or Fallout on PlayStation consoles (at launch).

I wish Microsoft would buy Nintendo - I don't play portable and I only play docked with a pro controller so Id happily play on a xbox at 4k.

@Sakaixx Also Microsoft owning these IPs means they won't be coming to Stadia anymore. Also won't be surprise if all the Doom and Wolfenstein games disappear from Stadia for good. Microsoft already launch xCloud, they wouldn't want their competition to get some of their games for the other cloud service.

...Wut?

Really?

I am so confused.

@mjharper They've never really needed to beat Bethesda. They've had a pretty good relationship, with the console versions of Morrowind and Oblivion being exclusive to xbox. (Though Oblivion was for a limited time)

Can't say I ever cared much for The Elder Scrolls, Fallouts, Dooms(except the very first, that is still great IMO), Quakes, Wolfensteins (except Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which was great - can we get that one on Switch, please!).
The Evil Within 2 was good, the first one too clunky to really enjoy, Dishonored became boring halfway through the first (never played the second, Prey reboot etc.).
Not really a big loss for me personally if Bethesda's catalogue becomes Xbox exclusives, I'm not gonna buy a PS5 anyway (still have games on PS4 thatI haven't played at all, even though I've had them for years .
But certainly interesting times

Guys, this means Microsoft now owns Home Alone for the NES!
HD Remaster when?

@Lindhardt
Both of which work on Xbox One and will work on Series X/S.

"...all future releases — such as The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield — will be available via Game Pass from launch"

Woot, PC Game Pass, best $5 in Gaming. I'll pay the $15 for Xcloud for the Elder Scroll 6 Launch for the Bus.

@progx Yamauchi folklore about Ballmer? Never heard of it. It is as much as the Yamauchi folklore about Squaresoft after they announced FF7 was going to be on the PlayStation?

@sixrings Microsoft can't buy Nintendo unless Nintendo is in financial ruin and is looking to sell their assets. If they don't put their assets for grab then other companies can't buy them. Like in a real market you can't buy something if it's not for sale. WWF can't buy WCW unless the parent company of WCW put their assets for sale. In 2001 they did so WWF was able to make the purchase.

@supermonkey42 Especially their RPG studios. Now they have Bethesda, Obsidian, and inxile.

Well foots. I doubt Fallout will come to Switch now

This is very bad news for consumers...

@BulkSlash Yeah, me too. I've been purposefully ignoring the PC version in favor of the Switch one. Yeah, you may call me stupid for that, graphics and all, but Switch is my dear darling and I'd play any game on it))

Even though Zenimax is a big corporation this is bad news. There will be less options across platforms for gamers to choose and less original games.

Think about what Microsoft did to scalebound. If Platinum was self publishing, that game would've released. Instead they spent 5 years only for Microsoft to pull the plug and for platinum nearly went bust.

I can see Microsoft only using them for specific series such as id for Doom and Wolfenstein, or putting Arkane on Dishonored only.

Look how long it was between Rare games after they got shoved on Kinect, or that Ninja Theory are making their first sequel after a pretty perfect story.

That's unfortunate. Anyone cheering on consolidation in the video game industry is a fool.

I think Microsoft has stated at some point during all these acquisitions, that these companies will still be relatively autonomous in their operations. So I am sure multi-platform franchises will still be multi-platform (look at Minecraft). Money will just filter to Microsoft.

However, Game Pass value will shoot up as Bethesda games will all be added to Game Pass (and stay there). When Starfield/ES6 do come out, they will be Game Pass day 1 instead of paying $70/piece elsewhere - that Game Pass subscription is looking mighty appealing!

@MisterWhen People don't have short memories, that was like 20 years ago. We're just old haha

@6thHorizon Not if you already had a PC, whatever games coming to Xbox is also coming to PC so not really that big of a deal. A majority of Bethesda games originate from PC anyways.

Nintendo, buy a studio, its so aggravating when Sony and Xbox carve the marketplace.
Bethesda is gone, buy capcom or koei tecmo, your "partner strategy" isn't working when Microsoft can waltz in and buy the whole of Zenimax media
Nintendo investors pressure Nintendo to become like Disney. buy 2 new studios!

Nintendo probably doesnt need to worry about Starfield or Elder Scrolls VI not coming to Switch since those games were never going to release on Switch in the first place lol. In fact, given that both Microsoft and Bethesda are fairly supportive of the Switch to some extent (Ori 2 just launched on Switch), I think Bethesda will still continue to support the Switch or Switch 2 with some feasible titles (Doom 3, Wolfenstein 3, etc) under the Xbox publishing label.

The issue is that many other companies may now be open to aquisition. If Bandai Namco or Koei Tecmo are purchased by Microsoft (or Sony if they can somehow pony up the cash), that could have devastating consequences for Nintendo as those two companies (especially Bamco) provide a lot of development grunt for key Nintendo titles (Smash Bros, Mario Kart, New Pokemon Snap, Arms, Fire Emblem, Hyrule Warriors, etc).

@NightBeast I'm waiting for Eternal on the Switch too, I can't live without my gyro aiming!

@MisterWhen Bethesda is much more Xbox style than Rare... They should have never bought a studio like that.
With Bethesda they´ll be fine. Just like at home.

Bethesda + Microsoft is a good fit

This consolidation of power is terrible news, Microsoft and Sony have too much power over the industry and society at large as is. Nothing will happen to them because they've bought off all the politicians.

@sixrings I'd rather see them partner up and making a joint console than having one purchase the other.

@GamingFan4Lyf But remember there's a difference: Minecraft, Ori, Meat Boy, and Cuphead are all indie titles, Microsoft only published them but doesn't necessarily cherish those like their bigger triple A titles. If they treat Bethesda games like they treat Rare then we'll probably won't be seeing anymore titles from them after 2020. Microsoft could okay the indies but I doubt they do the same for the bigger titles.

Wow, Microsoft ain’t messing around.

I preferred the Xbone era where they seemed to relish being irrelevant now they get to screw over lots of studios ala EA.

XSS + FO6 looks splendid (^o^)

I was going to buy a ps5, this honestly might have changed it to Xbox. I really don’t know now, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

Good for MS!

They've been making all the right moves headed into next gen unlike Sony.

bye bye PS5, you had a good run.

I already was determined to buy an XBOX Series X.

No need to worry about Doom Eternal on Switch.

Microsoft never canceles already anounced games even on PS4.

@Ventilator Microsoft loves supporting the Switch.

Normally, I would be against this kind of thing, but Sony deserves to be crushed for what they did to the Funimation + Crunchyroll partnership and their censorship policies as well as their virtue signaling.

Sony: hey we wanna pay for time exclusivity for your next two games.
Bethesda, acts a bit weird: sure sounds like a deal
they shake hands and sony leaves
Bethesda : well this is interesting.
pulls of its mask scooby do style revealing Microsoft : Very interesting indeed.

@Medic_Alert Plus its makes a lot of sense to let people who aren't your customers to get a "taste" and then BOOM Doom 3 on Xbox and PC

I don't think this will affect any future Bethesda releases on Nintendo hardware. I'm not expecting the next Doom until the Switch's successor anyway but I still think Bethesda will release multiplats. They would just be timed to Xbox(game pass included) and PC. I still think they'll go to PlayStation too. Either way, good for MS.

Speaking of, I popped into Pushsquare, and it's pretty funny to see the negative reactions over there. Especially coming from a fan base that cheers on any third party PS exclusive and is always saying how exclusives are important. 🙄

Ok Nintendo your move. Buy Sega!

I feel Microsoft will probably treat them like they do Mojang. Too many fans on different platforms to fully lock them out. That and recent Bethesda Game Studios games have been at best mixed so Microsoft taking over from ZeniMax might be for the best. Though Microsoft LEAVE Id ALONE! Doom has been incredible don't mess with it!

@Sinister Nintendo owning Sega and Atlus? I could be down for that.

Okay now i am convinced. My next console will be xbox

Fans: Nintendo needs better 3rd party support!
3rd party publishers: No longer exist anymore because Microsoft has purchased them all.

In all seriousness, this is one of the benefits of being a company that relies on first party content to succeed - acquisitions like this by competitors can sting but ultimately aren't crushing blows since most people buy Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo software.

On the other hand, PlayStation may face serious issues as big franchises like Fallout or Elder Scrolls and sequels to current PlayStation timed exclusives like Deathloop or Ghostwire Tokyo may no longer even launch on PlayStation hardware, or if they do, not day-and-date with the Xbox and PC versions.

WHAT I WHAT DID YOU SAY

Does this mean they'll stop it with the Microstransaction baloney?

Ah, who am I kidding.

@Guybrush20X6 Actually MS isn't a big fan of microtransactions. So they might.

Huh. Guess that explains why they've held off on updating us on the Switch version of DOOM Eternal; this deal was likely going on behind closed doors for a bit now and who knows how it affects something like the release of that game on Switch from a business perspective.

Hoping this will lead to Microsoft whipping Bethesda into shape following them pushing out garbage like Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Blades.

Given most of my favorite game franchises from Bethesda have been on the decline in quality in more ways than one, and most people have blamed Zenimax rather than Bethesda for the various misguided decisions, it'll be interesting to see if Bethesda corrects their course with a new owner at the helm.

@mjharper I mean to be fair if you are on a PC right now they already have you lol.

@FargusPelagius im pretty sure microsoft will still allow doom games to come to switch along with a few others.

I'm happy it looks like Xbox is going to be a credible competitor this time around. All 3 can say they have great reasons to buy their hardware.

@sanderev Let's hope the policy is

"Just make good games and they'll sell the almighty Games Pass."

Won't hold my breath for the existing ones to be removed tho.

@westman98 nintendo has 8bilion and is the richest company in all of japan, yet refuses to buy 2 new studios when monolith soft were redeemed by nintendo, why cant nintendo buy more 1st party support?

This scares me. It's not that Bethesda Games bring a ton of titles, but they did bring a handful. Microsoft has strategically permitted a few titles to come to the Switch, but that could go away.

I was really hoping for Fallout 4 or the 3 & Vegas at some point.

@Arkay I would be perfectly happy with a Microsoft Nintendo collaboration. Im pretty sure they could put gyro controls in their controllers and then all of the switch games would be comparable minus Labo, Mario Party.

Microsoft, again with have a "monopoly"?

That's a pretty awesome studio to purchase. Microsoft releases everything on PC, so it doesn't really affect me at all. Wouldn't even surprise me if Microsoft still lets these games release on all platforms.

I hope that all the people who were just protesting vociferously against low developer standards in Mario 3D All Stars are not, now, lauding this corporate integration. Larger and larger corporations only care less and less about fan complaints.

God, I hate MS. I could say that I hate Xbox too, but I'm actually indifferent. That XB1 launch debacle, though... that was one for the ages.

I can see Microsoft making these exclusives. Makes too much sense from a business perspective not to.

Console owner with lots of FPS’s in it buys a games company that predominantly produces FPS’s.

Not sure if this is really going to affect Nintendo.

one of the biggest news in gaming ever. incredible

How's that Nintendo "partnership" going?

@noobish_hat I like you, you're funny.

@JohnnyC
They’d earn more as a publisher Xbox as hardware is sunk cost fallacy at this point especially given how they are selling them at a loss when it’s the software people care more about.

@HSuzumiyaVI
Why should they?
Nintendo is highly successful with what they are doing already.
Buying another company is just as much of a risk as it is an opportunity.

Nintendo just does not have a reason to so this kind of thing right now, unless they are very sure it will be a success.

@sanderev I know. Still gets a MS game now and then.

Honestly? I want to see Elder Scrolls 6 as an Xbox exclusive now.

Why? Just because of the salt, thats all

Now if only Sony is smart and just buy Activision then they had ownerships of IPs like Call of Duty, Pitfall... Call of Duty (a series popular with Xbox players) would be a PlayStation exclusive.

@Retro_Player_77 LOL Pitfall? Did you include that to see if anyone was paying attention? And you failed to mention Blizzard...

I am dead set against corporate behemoths absorbing each other so that they can dictate to us, but your idea produces some very amusing images in my head. Would Activision become more ethical under Sony, or less? Automatic victory for firing Kotick. Some Japanese courtesy and (at least) outward humility might be good for certain American studios...

When Microsoft bought Obsidian they still released all announced games on other platforms, so I wouldn't worry about Doom Eternal on Switch.

I hope the good relationship between Microsoft and Nintendo continues though. I think the way Microsoft sees it, Nintendo aren't exactly a direct competitor and they'd rather people bought an Xbox and a Switch than an Xbox and a PlayStation. They're also happy to sell their games to the Nintendo only crowd who will only ever buy Nintendo platforms.

@invictus4000 Usually they have their games go to PC too. However, it was a good business move. I'm thinking that I might buy an Xbox for gamepasss specifically. Considering they put brand new games on it now a days I might as well.

If Bethesda’s IP is worth 7.5 Billion, how much is Nintendo worth?

@HSuzumiyaVI
I definitely agree that Nintendo can and should consider buying some specific first party studios.

But buying an entire publishing company worth $7.5 billion? Neither Sony and Nintendo has the resources or manpower to do that.

@MrGawain
As of today, $65 billion.

By comparison, Sony is worth $97 billion and Microsoft is worth $1.50 trillion.

@BionicDodo Because The Outer Worlds was still in development for those platforms.

@SalvorHardin As a Nintendo fan, I'd say experience teaches us it's unwise to write off a hardware platform because its immediate predecessor was a sales flop. Xbox One did a lot better than the Wii U so they have a stronger foundation going into the launch of their next console than Nintendo did going into the Switch, and if they get the exclusives right for a change there's no reason they couldn't be a force to be reckoned with again. Personally I'm not fussed about Xbox. Sony and Nintendo have the games on their platforms that most interest me and this sale does nothing to change that as I haven't played a Bethesda title on any format in years - nothing against them, but Zelda aside I struggle to make time for massive RPGs these days due to other demands on my time. However another active player is always good for competition. The PS3 really hit its stride when Sony were on the rebound from their first few years, and the Switch's first couple of years were outstanding after the beating Nintendo took on the Wii U.

"On a case by case basis"

And back to 2013 we go.

This could have been much worse, it could have been Sony, but damn. Worst buyout news since Rareware Ltd. They can't have been particularly bad off, why were they in the market to sell in the first place? Always thought they worked best as their own entity.

Let's hope they don't suffer the same faith as rare.

@backup368 I know, that's why I said they still released 'all announced' games on other platforms. I'm not saying that all future Obsidian games will be multi-platform, or that Bethesda ones will, just that they are very unlikely to cancel in development games for other platforms that have already been announced (like Doom Eternal for Switch).

So long Bethesda. Please never publish a game on the Switch ever again. You shall never be missed with your sh*tty unfinished games.

@Retro_Player_77 yeah I know, and that's what I expect to happen more or less.
The games will certainly still be on PC though, and that's why if an acquisition has to happen, MS is better than Sony. Only for that reason.

@PikaPhantom @HSuzumiyaVI @ReikoMortis Nintendo should have a serious look at Square Enix, SEGA, Capcom and Konami, any of those could boost what they have. If they don't it wouldn't surprise me if at least one of those is bought by Sony or Microsoft in the next couple of years.

@TheGamerKing As buggy as Bethesda games can be, they are also traditionally successful and critically-acclaimed. Can't imagine their parent company would be in the market to sell themselves off purely because they released one on-the-fence experimental game and botched its promotion (I'd argue Game Freak and the Pokemon Company botched Sword and Shield's a little more, at least people still generally respect the Fallout IP).

Even though Zenimax is a big corporation this is bad news. There will be less options across platforms for gamers to choose and less original games.

@jsw-8 You speak truly. I think the time of more limited choice is already here, simply because large studios/parent companies refuse to release AA titles (i.e. F-Zero for Nintendo, Jak and Dexter for Sony, or nearly any beloved Sega franchise you can think of).

I sometimes like to tell myself that we are seeing the rise of new franchises and influential creators with Hollow Knight or Stardew Valley, but I don't believe for a moment that these latter can close the gap in time to save this market from a period of serious homogenization.

@westman98

Interesting. But then I guess Sony and Microsoft have a lot more business interests than just games.

@MarioBrickLayer
The issue is that all of those companies are fairly big publicly traded businesses (Zenimax was privately owned).

Those companies are also business conglomerates rather than just game companies. What the heck is Nintendo supposed to do with Konami's fitness centers or Sega Sammy's arcade business, should be open to acquisition in the first place?

With that being said, I do believe Nintendo owns some shares in Bandai Namco and Square Enix, so they may be able to prevent a Microsoft acquisition in order to protect their interests (especially in the case of Bandai Namco as they provide a ton of development support for many Nintendo first party titles).

My partner and I were planning on getting a PS5 to play Elder Scrolls VI. We may now get an Xbox instead, depending on how things go.

@MrGawain Good point!

@dew12333 yawn bethesda hasnt had a nay relevant titles since 2016 fallout 76 was a joke. Sony has Spider-man and Persona. XBOX trying really hard for dat money bethesda is a lootbox fest and 2nd worst behind EA.

this doesnt make a difference

@chiefeagle02 xbox has nothing for Quarter 4 and Quarter 1 halo has been delayed they are seriously pushing for series S $299 and gamepass youre better off getting a PS5 or PC gamepass elder scrolls wont be the reason to get an XBOX also i have a PC much better than a speaker and tower

@MarioBrickLayer you really think nintendo needs to buy a game publisher to stay relevant? nintendo isnt looking to be #1 nor do they care microsoft just throwing hands to arm wrestle with sony let them and microsoft fight nintendo doing their own thing

i cant believe people are like OMG!

bethesda hasnt been relevant since 2016. RAGE? seriously thats the best AAA title you can throw at us? and 18 more versions of skyrim????

this is nothing everyone went OMG when they bought RARE and look what that accomplished.

@MrGawain
Yep.

Microsoft in particular has $136 billion of cash on hand, which gives them room to purchase a lot of companies and assets. Those are resources that most companies, including Sony and Nintendo, simply don't have.

There were rumors last year that Microsoft wanted to purchase EA, and while that didn't happen, Microsoft does indeed have the capacity to do so if they really really wanted to. Potentially losing (day one) access to EA games would absolutely obliterate PlayStation.

It always baffles me how ignorant people are of how money works. MS couldn't care less about "winning" some pretend console wars any more then Pepsi is trying to be more popular then Coke. All they want to do is make boat loads of money, which they do by leveraging their back end. Leveraging Switch / Xbox / PC cross play or even cross buy to change the way we think about buying games dose that. Becoming the Valve of consoles dose that. Selling a few more Xbox doesn’t. This is GREAT news for Switch owners, but at the same time it means nothing to the PS5

In fact the real "oh, this is bad" moment for ps5 came last week and went mostly unnoticed when Disgia 6 was shown as a Switch exclusive. The Switch is a dominate force in Japan, where the average commute on public transit to work is 94 minutes and multigenerational houses often have one TV controlled by the oldest. It's only NA that cares about "power" and "graphics", so even having traditionally Play Station games cross released on switch is devastating, but LOSSING exclusives to Nintendo?

That's 100 million people thinking "Wait, do I need a $500 system when all the games I like will be on this $250 device I can use way more often and easier? And, ya know, already own".

Microsoft has been kind of a wild card for awhile now, releasing what would normally be Microsoft exclusives to other systems (especially Nintendo). I wouldn't be surprised if we still saw Bethesda games on Nintendo at least. As long as they keep releasing on PC that's all that matters to me personally, I only ever play Bethesda games on PC.

Bethesda/Zenimax was somewhat of a struggling company business-wise for the last 5 years, which made them more vulnerable to an aquisition (on top of being privately owned rather than publicly-traded).

Just look at the commercial performance of their output since Fallout 4:
> Doom 2016: Sold very well
> The Evil Within 2: Underperformed
> Wolfenstein 2: Underperformed
> Prey 2017: Flop
> Fallout 76: Severely underperformed (worst-rated Bethesda game ever)
> Rage 2: Flop
> Wolfenstein Youngblood: Big flop (lowest-selling Bethesda game ever)
> Doom Eternal: Sold very well

2 successes (Doom) and 6 underperformances/flops is not a great track record at all. Pretty much every other major 3rd party publisher has been doing better than Bethesda and are thus far less likely to be acquired.

@Nintendook i'm not saying they need to make an acquisition to stay relevant, but if there is market consolidation they might be forced to. They have the cash to do it. How much (hardware and software units sold) would it he worth if Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider and Dragon Quest were exclusive to the Switch? Or what could Nintendo do with famous and forgotten SEGA franchises (Sonic, Jet Set Radio, Shinobi etc)?

Wow, unexpected, but I hope this turns out to be a positive thing. So Microsoft now owns Doom and Wolfenstein...I did Nazi that coming.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is awesome

coming soon: Windows 76!

Well thankfully I have a PC to still play these games, because I'm never buying an Xbox again.

I'd like to see these guys have a crack at a Fabled game.

@bluesdance
Windows 76 will have 16X the detail of Windows 10 and 32X the glitches and bugs.

Sony bought Insomniac
Microsoft responded with Bethesda
Nintendo, your move, use this to much money you have in the bank

My God, that is a huge acquisition and potentially massive blow to both Sony and Nintendo too.

@Tantani
Nintendo doesn't want to nor do they need to purchase game studios or companies as retaliation.

Wow, I think Sony just took an arrow to the knee.

@Camek48 nintendo is worth about 11 Zenimax at $85b. That might be too expensive for ms and might be too close to creating a monopoly.

@penamiguel92 I too am very worried about Japanese games being exclusive to PS5. Sony is basically an American company now, and they will push censorship / western standards on to Japanese creators.

@westman98 they need it badly right now, they might or might not have enough game studios but to grow now they a in house phone game studio and a in house movie studio

It will do wonders imo
If not acquiring, they need to create it

Fun fact: Microsoft considered buying out id in the 90's

@Tantani
Nintendo is doing the best they have ever been. They don't need anything badly right now other than people's money, which they have been getting hand-over-fist.

@MarioBrickLayer no it would never happen because square doesnt do that look what happened with tomb raider the timed window did nothing but make it worse.

@DaruniaJones88 dude bethesda sucks you arent missing anything. elder scrolls is over rated when 6 comes out it will come out everywhere xbox sucks

@impurekind not its not bethesda hasnt been relevant since 2016 sony doesnt need bethesda there just as bad as EA

I haven't played many of their titles but still hate this with a vengeance.

@westman98 those games alone doesnt put bethesda on the Map.

there biggest IP was Rage which was a meh shooter in the last 4 years....

this doesnt do anything to sony or nintendo

massive blow? yeah right thats like when minecraft was bought by microsoft no one cares

@Nintendook
Elder Scrolls and Fallout are massive.

Of course, if future entries are as bad as Fallout 76, then those IPs won't be so valuable anymore.

@Lordplops my question as well.

Holy ***** I'm actually speechless...

@Retro_Player_77 You need to remember that the IP of Cuphead doesn't belong to MS, it belongs to Studio MDHR. Also know that the deal for Minecraft was penned long before MS acquired Mojang. So no Xbox isn't doing PlayStation any favors. The timed deal is expired and Cuphead was free to go. Xbox is doing Nintendo a favor by releasing Cuphead and both Ori games.

@invictus4000 too late I already am!

@Nintendook I know, but in theory, if Nintendo bought them they would have to donas instructed. Not sure there is a strong argument for Nintendo to buy them and still release games on PS and XB

@MarioBrickLayer nintendo doesnt need any help fyi

@HollowSpectre why? because they havent been relevant since 2016? i dont understand anyone under 19 clearly doesnt understand how much of horrible company bethesda is its like trump selecting mike pence.

@graysoncharles Why would they? I boycott that turd of a dev

@westman98 they are but ever since skyrim released 60 times and fallout 76 its like the rare purchase look at rare now.

@Deanster101 nope considered how bad Bethesda has been doing, its like Rare purchase all over again

Sony still has 70% of atlus, and Insomniac.

its funny. when Sony buys something OMG RAWR IM SO MAD DOWN WITH SONY

when Microsoft buys something:

YOOOOOOOOOO CHECK SoNY Muahahahahahaha

i hate gaming community

@Sinister nintendo doesnt need to buy anything.....there doing just fine.

@supermonkey42 they really havent.

they been struggling since 2013.

PS5 preorders went in 5 minutes sold out everywhere

yeah no way

@Nintendook Yes, because games like The Evil Within, Prey, Dishonored, Fallout, the Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, Doom Eternal, Deathloop, Ghostwire: Tokyo, etc. are worthless--right.

I mean, clearly Doom Eternal isn't one of the most popular and hyped and acclaimed games out there just now--right.

Wow! Microsoft just added a nice hall onto their building in the game department; don't F*** it up!

@Nintendook It was the intial shock of it all to be honest. A major third party getting taken over doesn't happen everyday. I'm well aware of how horrible they are. There last few rpgs have released broken and I've absolutely no faith that starfield or tes6 will be any good. And I'm well into my 30s so yeah I know exactly what scumbags they are.

@BenAV I think as long as Nintendo really doesn't become a hardware rival and sticks to it's "Nintendo approach" to gaming, Microsoft will work with them.

@elpardo1984,

Trust me, Microsoft have more than enough money to buy Bethesda, the only question is who's next on their list, they have made 44.28 net profit in 2020 alone.

@Nintendook That's kind of the thing: Our PS4 was initially our "Bethesda Box" (we got Fallout 4 and ESO when we bought the system) and figured the PS5 would be as much. I saw Microsoft said that Bethesda games could still be released on Playstation, but we'll see. We don't have a PC for gaming (yet), so that's a nonstarter for us.

Jeeze how many studios can microsoft buy up.. At what point would the competition and markets authority (or American equivalent) step in...?

Ouch, this is the biggest acquisition Microsoft has ever done to Xbox yet. I mean, they.. they they have the Skyrim guys!!

I'm glad I read the updated article though

MS has way too many properties and licenses.

I wish they would go out of business; they are clearly a monopoly and should collapse.

@westman98 I agree
But that’s the very reason they need to expand
They are already doing it in a massive way, but having a phone studio and a movie studio is the next big step along side the “brand shops” around the world and the parks that they will open next year and the partner movies

Wow! That’s a big purchase! Will see now if Microsoft gets stingy and starts to make some of these franchises Xbox exclusives in the future!

@Tantani
Nintendo doesn't need a "phone studio" or "movie studio". They partnered with DeNA to help develop mobile games and Universal to create Super Nintendo World and the Illumination Mario movie.

That's the big difference between Nintendo and Microsoft. Nintendo likes to partner with a ton of companies - heck, the vast majority of Nintendo's first party software lineup is developed by outside partners (Gamefreak, Intelligent Systems, Next Level Games, HAL Labs, Grezzo, Good Feel, Koei Tecmo, Platinum, Bandai Namco, etc). Heck, Nintendo just announced a partnership with Velan Studios to develop Mario Kart Live.

Meanwhile, Microsoft likes to straight-up purchase their close partners as they have the capital to do so.

@DoktorTotenKopf How is Microsoft a monopoly in the gaming space? They play 2nd fiddle to Steam for PC gaming on Windows their own OS. The original Xbox only outsold the Gamecube by a couple million and was destroyed by the PS2 in sales. The 360 started strong but ultimately ended up in 3rd behind the PS3 and Wii. The Xbone was just demolished by the PS4, and while it beat the Wii U as soon as the Switch came out the Xbone became a distant 3rd again as the Switch hit it's total sales and surpassed it in almost half the time.

Microsoft is far from a monopoly in the gaming space. If anything the Playstation brand is more of a monopoly than Microsoft. That and unlike Sony, Microsoft has been more willing to play ball with Nintendo as a 3rd party publisher. So, while it sucks to see Bethesda get sold to Microsoft, I don't see it being adverse to Nintendo's long term goals provide them and Microsoft remain chummy. If anyone loses in this sale it is Sony only gamers.

@Nintendook Atlus is fully owned by Sega Sammy Holdings. If Sony owned 70% of Atlus we'd never see an SMT game on Switch ever.

I don't know if it is a good thing for Doom and Quake, hope the studios can still work ad they did before. We will see. I'm happy for Microsoft though. I usually play theyr games on PC, but I have the first Xbox and I'm really happy with that, I can even look for another Xbox on the future.

Also, remember the PS5 Bethesda-published exclusives Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo?
Now it would be reaaally funny to see Playstation exclusives being published by Microsoft

This is a disaster for fans of Bethesda games. We've seen already what MS owned studios have to work on - games as service titles, each one has to make at least one barebones endless gaas game. I expect the same will happen to future Bethesda games. I think it is safe to say that era of quality single player titles from Bethesda studios is over.

With all that money hatting Sony’s been doing (bought MH World exclusivity in Japan, bought off FF7, bought off FF16, bought off two Bethesda exclusives, a Gearbox exclusive, bribed Little Devil Inside devs to release timed on PS5 despite their commitment to backers) it was only a matter of time before Microsoft snapped back.

And I say good for them. Sony fans have been cheering and clapping while Sony has been actively paying money to prevent other gamers from enjoying games on their preferred platforms. Nobody wanted to take a stand and speak out against it because they were the beneficiaries. It’s all fun and games until the tables are turned.

Serves them right. You play with fire you’re gonna get burned.

At least with MS I know I’ll be playing on PC, which is my preferred platform for non-Switch games anyways. So this won’t affect me. But good on MS. They needed this so badly. If there’s one criticism people have of MS it’s toward their 1st party portfolio. But they’ve been steadily improving- not only do they have Halo, Gears and Forza, but Ori which is a spectacular IP, they have Obsidian and all their future exclusive titles which is considerable output, Hellblade devs and their future exclusives, Bethesda and all their future exclusive titles which could span the next DOOM, Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls 6, Evil Within, new Fallout, etc, probably see a new PUBG release... suddenly Xbox is looking mighty strong in the exclusive department for next gen.

@Rhaoulos speak for yourself dude most of enjoy playing doom and wolfenstein games on the switch.

This wont change sales.only software sales boost.

To beat sony.
Xbox needs nintendo games, and naughty dog.
Thats what the brand misses, their games.
I dont buy a xbox for bethesda, even though i love elder scrolls.

This move by Microsoft does not affect me because I am a hardcore Nintendo fan who only buy jrpgs on Nintendo systems. So this type of move does not harm me in any way shape or form

There's a lot to be said about this news. However, my concern is not game specific and it's something I don't think I see anyone mention.

What's extremely common with any kind of acquisition is the impending "restructuring", reorganizing, "reevaluating", etc etc. With that comes lots of moving and shaking. It's very common for the buying Company to bring in those dreaded "Bob's" everyone has to meet with. In short: layoffs. It doesn't always happen right away. The bean counters at Microsoft will be going to work very soon and start combing through all the VP's, Executive VP's, Assistant Managers, Lead this or that etc etc. and see where the fat can be trimmed. In every company there's plenty of brass that get big salaries that just sip their coffee all day, sit in random meetings, and leave early on Friday. There will be some on Microsoft's side who's job description is about to get a few more bullet points of responsibility. It goes on and on. Press conferences of these acquisitions are good PR stunts to make praise for a bright future together. However, usually not long after that things really start to change. After all this new addition to the big beast in now on their accounting reports.

I only bring this part up because I really feel for anyone that is now worried about the future especially with COVID running rampant. They most likely have families to feed. I've experienced the dreaded "restructuring" across multiple companies before and it just flips the world you know upside down every time.

@Bolt_Strike you seem a little confused, Microsoft isn’t a production company, of course they would buy one

@Arkay

I think a lot of it has to do with fans of a certain age range who aren't familiar with 99.9999999999% of Rare/UPG's prior output. I also have to imagine that the Nintendo IP games involved a certain degree of hand-holding.

That's quite massive and really adds more value for any Xbox user that subscribes to Game Pass.

Oh wow this is a massive blow to Sony.

Especially considering Nintendo are still getting games from Microsoft, Sony are being left out (the upcoming sequel for Ori And The Blind Forest, for example).

Next generation really will be interesting, it could actually be a return to the mid 90s console wars with both sides trying to grab exclusive games and Nintendo just doing their own thing, obviously rooting for Microsoft .

@Retro_Player_77

We've gotten to a stage where there's the world video game market and then there's the Japanese video game market. I guarantee you that Microsoft doesn't care if they sell zero systems in that market because they don't have Role Playing Games featuring 10 year old school girls having sex with an octopus to a soundtrack of some woefully out of date 1980's glam rock.

@scoobdoo Sooo, then maybe not being a production studio is the problem? If they don't know how to make a game, how are they going to successfully run a game development studio? Microsoft's problem is that they don't have enough exclusives in their lineup. It's that their exclusives are generally uninspired and uninteresting and so they don't catch on. You can just tell from the kinds of games they make that they don't actually care about making good games, they just want to cash in on trends to push their multimedia boxes. Buying a popular name isn't going to solve that. They tried that with Rare and it failed miserably, and they're probably going to fail again with this move. Their lineup isn't going to get better unless they make changes from within and start putting actual heart and soul into making experiences people will actually enjoy.

The bean counters at Microsoft will be going to work very soon and start combing through all the VP's... and see where the fat can be trimmed. In every company there's plenty of brass that get big salaries that just sip their coffee all day, sit in random meetings, and leave early on Friday. ...

I only bring this part up because I really feel for anyone that is now worried about the future especially with COVID running rampant.

@RustedHero Your post has a very humanitarian spirit, which I respect. I won't, however, shed tears if any toxic executive types at Bethesda or MS get the golden parachute. Adam Orth, formerly of MS, comes to mind - and someone at Bethesda is ultimately responsible for Fallout 76. I do feel understanding about families, though.

Role Playing Games featuring 10 year old school girls having sex with an octopus to a soundtrack of some woefully out of date 1980's glam rock

@robr Hiroshi Yamauchi, is that you?

(I, for one, find Ultros' actions in Final Fantasy VI rather more tame than what you describe.)

This can work out one of two ways. Microsoft, who seem to be doing much better with the Xbox platform now, leverage this purchase to put them in a better position in the market versus Sony.

Or, they could screw it up, which they are quite famous for doing, and end up scattering the studios to the winds and saying "nah it was only $7 billion. "

Sony fans have been cheering and clapping while Sony has been actively paying money to prevent other gamers from enjoying games on their preferred platforms. Nobody wanted to take a stand and speak out against it because they were the beneficiaries. It’s all fun and games until the tables are turned.

@JaxonH In general I agree with your post 100%. MS, though, as a broader corporation, has a history of vicious business practices themselves. I don't want to attack anyone for being an Xbox fan - the world can definitely use some non-Japanese consoles. I am simply saying that Sony had found itself in a decades-long battle with a pitbull every bit as mean; they may have had legitimate reason to fear for their future at certain points. I just don't see heroes here, Nintendo included.

@COVIDberry You are very right with what you stated. Every company has their share of "Bill Lumbergh" that definitely deserve to be shown the door. Especially the ones that have built a career on sh*tting on the real workers below them, make all sorts of nonsense and headaches, take all the credit when something works (and bonuses!), and deflect all the blame to anyone else when it doesn't.

I guess I'm letting my personal experiences sway my thoughts a little. With restructuring a lot of hard working good people get the boot too. There can also be a lot of backstabbing, throwing under the bus etc. to try to save themselves. Oh I've seen it and its ugly no matter how many years you've worked together. I mainly worry for those real miracle, hard working, lots and lots of dedicated overtime people. The Lumbergh's can start cleaning out their desks ASAP

@COVIDberry
Fair enough. I’m not any particular fan of Microsoft myself. I’m just tired of seeing Sony money hat every single title in existence and nobody says anything, in fact everyone loves it. Final Fantasy paid off to ensure Xbox players have to wait? No prob! Hype! That kinda stuff. But then when Microsoft takes legitimate action to rectify the one complaint people tend to make against them (that they need a better first party portfolio) suddenly there’s outrage. But ya, MS is no saint either. They started a lot of the bad practices we have today such as paid online and MTX. But one thing they haven’t done is aggressively money hat, at least, not ever since Rise of the Tomb Raider. Gamers didn’t like that and they kind of backed off afterwards, but then Sony stepped in like a rabid dog and just went berserk, bribing any and every dev they could get to crack a wallet.

@Sinister Pls no

@JaxonH Hardcore Sony fanboys have a massive double standard when it comes to exclusives They love to get their hands on exclusives and rub them in the faces of Xbox and Nintendo gamers.

I remember them gloating about Street Fighter V until the game launched(although they kinda shut up once Capcom released it in a half-finished state) and this has been going on for years.

But if Nintendo or Microsoft dares to scoop up an exclusive for themselves, they cry foul and whine about how unfair it is.

When Nintendo got their hands on Bayonetta years ago and made the second game exclusive to the Wii U, Sony fanboys were the ones who cried the loudest about how Nintendo was not being fair and had stolen a game from them.

Nevermind the fact that the rights were offered to all three console makers and other third-party studios, and Nintendo was the only one who stepped up to the plate.

Since the PS5 event last week, Sony fanboys have rubbed it everyone's face that they were getting Final Fantasy XVI and said that the Xbox had nothing.

Well, Microsoft has responded in a big way, and now they are once again acting like crybabies. I've even seen some go as far as to ask the government(which just allowed Disney to buy Fox) to step in and block the merger.

The fact of the matter is, Microsoft made one hell of a move. The Nintendo fanboys are acting pretty mature and are only concerned if they will see games come from Bethesda.

Sony fanboys are up in arms and acting like Microsoft played a dirty move and are demanding Microsoft pay.

No, Microsoft just got tired of not having development studios to make first-party games and Sony scooping up exclusives and decided to kill two birds with one stone by opening up their massive war chest and spending some cash.

Sony got beat at its own game, and now the hardcore fanboys are losing their minds. I have to admit, I'm enjoying the show.

(By the way, before anyone accuses me of bias, I have a PS4, PSP, and PS2. I don't mind Sony or the Playstation brand. I do prefer my Xbox, but that's because of the games on the platform. I do have an issue with hardcore Sony fanboys.)

@Taarna After Nintendo sold them off, what happens beyond that is no longer a Nintendo Fan's concern.

Did Microsoft screw up with Rare? Yes, but I think the studio was headed down a downward path when Nintendo sold them.

Why would Nintendo sell off a studio and it's franchises(which they owned at the time) to a rival in the console market unless something was wrong behind the scenes?

A studio that was a major assest to them on the SNES and likely helped keep the N64 alive?

I think Rare's decline was bound to happen no matter who owned them. Nintendo saw the writing on the wall and bailed before things got bad.

@Caryslan Definitely a possibility. Rare would have created something really awesome by now if it wasn't true. Nintendo is careful in what they want to make. I think F-Zero has not had a new game because Nintendo truly is not sure how to improve on the Gamecube one. They truly do pick and choose.

Let us hope we see more Doom Slayer on Nintendo though. His pairing with Isabella is really cute.

@Retro_Player_77 minecraft indie? Yeah that’s BS.

Thats good for quality games , but hopefuly they don't make elder scrolls xbox exclusive

Back in the early 2000s, Square Enix tried to buy Koei. Koei got scared of being aquired, merged with Tecmo to form Koei Tecmo, and has remained an independent company ever since.

Likewise, during that same time, Nintendo started to invest a lot into Bandai by buying some of its shares. Bandai got scared of the tiny possibility of being aquired, merged with Namco to form Bandai Namco, and has remained an independent company ever since.

In other words, Japanese companies really don't like getting aquired by other bigger companies, and they will do anything to avoid it.

So now the chance of Doom Eternal Switch edition coming out soon are looking even less probable?

@MagnaRoader MS will definitely honour contracts that have already been signed.

No more Skyrim ports??? 🤤

@Deanster101 I sure as hell hope so, and hope they weren't looking to buy time with their "coming soon" posts until Microcash bought them and then they could say "oopsies Microgod bought us and now we cannot release on other platforms!"

Seriously though, more exclusives can only be bad news for everyone. I don't understand people who don't see that.

@MagnaRoader Switch will get Doom Eternal but it will be interesting to see what other Bethesda games it gets going forwards... Other than Doom Eternal they have nothing else announced as upcoming for the Switch to my knowledge..

@johnvboy of course they do in terms of cash, but they don't make those profits by buying Bethesda and not making those games Xbox/Game Pass exclusives to bolster that service. The service itself is great but what they are missing is the games catalogue that Sony has, buying Bethesda et al is to bolster that aspect of their offering. Minecraft is the exception not the rule.

@Wexter you clearly haven’t learned of their past misdeeds and asinine antics, day in and day out...

@Caryslan
The thing to remember is not everyone falls in these categories. Theres some awesome Sony fans who aren’t like that at all. And... There’s some pretty bad fanboys on all sides including Nintendo.

But ya, lot of one-sidedness and hypocrisy from Sony fans. This will serve to perhaps wake them up to how everyone else feels every time Sony bribes a dev to not release their multiplat on other consoles to punish everyone who’s not a loyal PS follower. Maybe in the future they’ll think twice about cheering and clapping every time Sony money hats.

@DaruniaJones88 you can also stream or run on windows

@westman98 Never knew Nintendo almost scooped up Bandai in the early 00s... wow if that happened Nintendo would have owned Gundam and that is one of the biggest multimedia franchises in Japanese history... DAMN that would had been a purchase.

Oh well didn't happen, but interesting thought experiment.

...
...
oh (w)ow

And no, I can't think of anything more to say.

@Wexter
Nintendo never intended to purchase Bandai - they just bought a lot of shares of the company. That didn't matter though, as it spooked Bandai so much that they decided to merge with Namco in order to build strength and maintain their independence.

To this day, Nintendo still owns some Bandai Namco stock - over 3.8 million shares as of March 2020, equivalent to ¥20.15 billion or $186 million in value. Nintendo also owns some some shares of Square Enix (91,000+), Konami (63,000+), and Koei Tecmo (18,000+).

Nintendo invested in all of those companies for the same reason: "Shares are held for the purpose of maintaining and developing the business relationship." So if a megacorporation like Microsoft wanted to purchase one of those publishers (particularly Bandai Namco) and therefore disrupt their business relationship with Nintendo, Nintendo would have a say in whether that acquisition can happen or not.

@westman98 Ahhhh okay that makes sense. And I doubt Nintendo would be too keen on Microsoft buying up Japanese publishers. They're cozy with Microsoft, but not that cozy. They'd probably try to block those purchases.

In my opinion, Microsoft and Sony are digging their own (console) graves, as they’re both going to release their «exclusive» games for PC as well. If you want both Xbox and PlayStation games, buy a PC.

@Bolt_Strike just so you are aware Microsoft has 6 of 15 studios that were internally created and Sony has something like 7 out of 13. They both buy devs. That's how it works.

@Retro_Player_77 sega is next

@Wexter wont happen. There was already a ton of players invested in the minecraft ecosystem on other platforms. That would have been cruel and bad business to try making those players drop their current consoles/games for XBox. These games are much easier to get people to switch over. Plus Cuphead and Ori are from studios not owned by Xbox. This will be different.

I guess this is good news for people who like First-Person shooters? I can't stand them, personally, but im glad to see that Microsoft is taking such aggresive approaches to the new generation.

@BrettoftheWild about that Minecraft comparison I have two words... Elder Scrolls. Skyrim is still one of the most popular games on all platforms for almost two console generations and has a very rabid fanbase. Denying Elder Scrolls VI to Nintendo and Sony players may not be a good long term move by Microsoft. I can see them maybe doing pure exclusives with lesser-known stuff like Dishonored or Evil Within, but Doom, Fallout and Elder Scrolls may bite MS in the kisser. Also, Microsoft does not see Nintendo as direct computation and squeezing out some extra sales of titles running on Id Tech on Switch is just good business sense.

Hopefully some of that money stays within the company, and allows them to hire a proper VO director and some trained animators for Elder Scrolls VI.

@MarioBrickLayer Nintendo's financials shows 2% of Bandai Namco in shares, Nintendo owns square enix stock and koei tecmo also, this was from the latest IR report Nintendo has a drive not to become the Disney of videogames but imagine Kingdom mushroom hearts.
Also Nintendo is a shareholder of konami

@Amin_Parker Doesn't harm you yet, Microsoft Japan can buy segasammy holdings

@HSuzumiyaVI The concern would be if a number of large and medium sized studios were bought by Microsoft, Sony and Google and their titles then became exclusive/unavailable on Nintendo platforms which could impact unit sales. Nintendo have the cash available to make a purchase.

Fallout 76 is a disaster, they may have just purchased a company on its way out... remember when they bought Rare?

@MarioBrickLayer I don't get why Nintendo keeps onto money to buy up studios to keep switch droughts at bay

@HSuzumiyaVI Well nobody outside of Nintendo really knows what plans they have for their cash reserves. I'm just speculating that if 3rd party studios were bought out and no longer publishing games on Nintendo systems, in theory Nintendo could copy this trend and buy some studios themselves. I'm not saying they have to, but if Microsoft buying Bethesda triggers a domino effect of buyouts then Nintendo have the ability to join in.

@noobish_hat alpha dream isn't the kind of studio Nintendo wants to buy, look at monolith soft Nintendo wants monolith soft to be the next square soft
Nintendo invests in key partner companies except Capcom and value act is trying to get Nintendo to become the Disney of videogames Nintendo can increase stock in Bandai Namco (2% stake)
Square enix, koei tecmo, konami all have Nintendo as an investor. Nintendo owns a controlling stake in Dena and owns to a lesser degree 2nd party studios like hal labs, intelligent systems and creatures inc
Nintendo has retro and monolith soft as 1st party studios and talking about monolith soft they have increased studios to work on 3 teams so 4 games in total, monolith soft also has a separate studios whom basically help in engine tools software compression etc, then there's Nintendo affiliated development teams like Mobiclip, now NERD, NST, they did a few titles after hammer, and don't forget grezzo, mercury steam and other studios like next level games. These are satellite studios like alpha dream Nintendo would want a studio that does the stuff Nintendo doesn't deal with, monolith soft being the RPG factory and if I was to guess what studio Nintendo would buy is Hudson's corpse.

@MarioBrickLayer only if Sony retaliates buying Bandai Namco or konami or hell forbid koei tecmo or capcom or square enix
I expect Nintendo to own shares in capcom in the future IR report.
Nintendo would have to lose a studio like rare in Japan to spook investors to demand Nintendo buy studios to maintain exclusives
Edit, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-Up_Studio
This studio is ex square soft employees formerly known as brownie brown studios

@Retro_Player_77 Sony has a market cap of around 80 billion, Activision isn’t far off at 60 billion. So Sony couldn’t ever dream of such and acquisition.