Microsoft’s Bethesda buy beats TikTok

Ask enough gamers about their favourite console and this is what you’ll generally learn: Those who play Xbox tend to love it and stay loyal to that system, but PlayStation
has the best games. Microsoft Corp, Xbox’s parent company, is betting $7.5 billion that it can change that perception.
Microsoft agreed to acquire ZeniMax Media Inc, the owner of popular video-game publisher Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion in cash. The deal has PlayStation fans worried that their favourite franchises — namely The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Doom — could become Xbox exclusive. But the transaction is happy news for Xbox players, after what marked a somewhat disappointing lineup of titles ahead of the launch of its new devices: the Xbox Series X ($499) and Series S ($299).
The new systems are getting released in November in tandem with Sony Corp’s highly anticipated PlayStation 5 console (priced at $500, though it will have a $400 digital edition without a disc drive).
While Xbox has the appeal of a cheaper offering, its key launch title, Halo Infinite, had to be delayed to next year. As my Opinion colleague Tae Kim wrote at the time, “The company seems to have forgotten
the most important video-game industry lesson: It’s all about the games.” Microsoft’s response appears to be: “You want games? You’ve got games.”
As far as Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, two titles that Bethesda was set to debut exclusively on the PlayStation 5, Bloomberg News reports that Xbox plans to honour that
commitment.
However, Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of gaming, said future titles will be available to “other consoles on a case-by-case basis.” That may help drive Xbox device sales and subscriptions to its Game Pass service at a time when in-home streaming entertainment is surging, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Acquiring ZeniMax is a chance for Microsoft to keep growing its cachet with consumers, who still primarily think of the company for its Windows
software — the clunkier, less-sleek rival to Apple Inc’s operating system. Making a bigger push in gaming is also a more natural fit for Microsoft than, say, buying a viral social-video platform — remember, Microsoft was part of the motley crew of bidders for TikTok.

—Bloomberg