It's official.
Xbox and Bethesda

Microsoft has confirmed that they are in the process of acquiring ZeniMax Media for a cool $7.5 billion (USD) in cash. ZeniMax is the parent company of studios like Bethesda, creator of The Elder Scrolls, as well as id Software, the developer behind DOOM.

This acquisition is reportedly the "biggest video game purchase ever" for Microsoft.

At present, Bethesda has two games that are slated to arrive in 2021. Those include Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Microsoft's Phil Spencer told Bloomberg that Xbox plans to honor the PS5 exclusivity agreement on those titles. However, future Bethesda games will be on Xbox, PC, and "other consoles on a case by case basis." Presumably, these future titles now include The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield.

All told, Microsoft will now own Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, ZeniMax Online Studios, Arkane, MachineGames, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios.

Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, wrote up a little blog post about today's acquisition where he shared his thoughts on today's events.

Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world. Our teams have a close and storied history working together, from the amazing first DOOM, and its id Tech engine, innovating games on PCs to Bethesda bringing their first console game to the original Xbox, the groundbreaking The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Over the years I’ve had many deep conversations with the creative leaders at Bethesda on the future of gaming and we’ve long shared similar visions for the opportunities for creators and their games to reach more players in more ways.

Just as they took the bold first steps to bring The Elder Scrolls franchise to the original Xbox, Bethesda were early supporters of Xbox Game Pass, bringing their games to new audiences across devices and have been actively investing in new gaming technology like cloud streaming of games. We will be adding Bethesda’s iconic franchises to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC. One of the things that has me most excited is seeing the roadmap with Bethesda’s future games, some announced and many unannounced, to Xbox console and PC including Starfield, the highly anticipated, new space epic currently in development by Bethesda Game Studios.