The European Commission has approved the transaction through which Microsoft acquires ZeniMax Media, the parent company of the studios behind the famous “Fallout” or “Doom” games. The agreement between the two companies “leaves no doubt as to its compatibility with the common market” shows the official verdict of the European Union, which decided to approve the transaction without any conditions.
“The Commission has concluded that the proposed acquisition would not create any competition concerns,” the statement said.
Once the $ 7.5 billion deal is completed, Microsoft’s list of first-party studios will reach 23 names. The newest additions will be Arkane (developer “Dishonored”), MachineGames (developer “Wolfenstein”), id Software (developer “Doom”) and Tango Gameworks (developer “The Evil Within”). Microsoft’s current plans appear to be that Bethesda will continue to operate separately, with the current management, an approach that has worked in the case of Mojang, LinkedIn and GitHub acquisitions.
The announcement of Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda was made in September last year, when Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, assured that the promises of exclusivity for titles like “Deathloop” and “GhostWire: Tokyo”, which were in development at the time, will be honored. Both games will appear on PlayStation 5 this year.
However, the situation will be approached differently when it comes to other titles that will be launched in the coming years. Spencer said decisions about them will be made individually, depending on the game. For example, it is still unclear how Microsoft will approach the launch of Starfield, the next RPG title from Bethesda, set in space.
Microsoft’s plans should be announced on March 23, at an event “The future of gaming”, in which the company will talk about Bethesda, the integration of xCloud on iOS and what will happen with the Xbox Game Pass service in the near future.
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