With ZeniMax (Bethesda) Microsoft is turbo-charging the Xbox
With the acquisition of ZeniMax, owner of Bethesda, Microsoft strengthens the video game portfolio ahead of the November launch of the next generation Xbox
Microsoft is expanding its video game portfolio ahead of the launch of the next generation of Xbox in November. Yesterday, the Redmond giant announced the acquisition for $ 7.5 billion (in cash) of ZeniMax Media, the company that owns Bethesda Softworks, a production house and video game publisher.
Bethesda is known for popular game franchises like Doom, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls.
The news comes just as Microsoft prepares to launch two new consoles, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Microsoft stock, which has gained more than 25% since the beginning of the year, gained 2.15% yesterday ( despite a 1.2% decline the morning after the announcement).
THE DETAILS OF THE OPERATION
Microsoft expects the acquisition of ZeniMax to close in the second half of its fiscal year 2021, which began on July 1.
With the addition of Bethesda, the number of Microsoft creative studios will increase from 15 to 23, and Bethesda's iconic franchises will be added to the Xbox Game Pass catalog.
Microsoft has stated that Bethesda will maintain its current leadership.
ONE OF THE MAJOR ACQUISITIONS IN MICROSOFT'S HISTORY
It is one of the largest acquisitions in the history of Microsoft in the video game sector, with which it will have access to several very popular game series, such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.
The last major acquisition in the sector dates back to 2014, when Microsoft bought Mojang, creator of Minecraft, for 2.5 billion dollars.
THE STRATEGY OF NADELLA
"Gaming is the fastest growing category in the entertainment industry, as people everywhere connect, socialize and play with their friends," commented Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
In fact, in the quarterly released on July 19 , Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations on both sales and profits, confirming the growing business, thanks in large part to continued gains in the cloud computing sector and large leaps in revenue from Surface and Xbox. Many of Microsoft's various divisions are benefiting from the effects of the pandemic, with the shift to remote work and more time at home driving people to video conferencing and gaming.
THE VIDEO GAME SECTOR
In fact, the video game industry represents the most important and fastest growing form of entertainment in the world, an industry that is expected to be worth over $ 200 billion in 2021.
Games are the main source of growth in the world of video games and fuel new cloud-gaming services such as Xbox Game Pass, which has reached a new record of over 15 million subscribers.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF BETHESDA
Bethesda, the author of critically acclaimed franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, will bring an impressive portfolio of games, technology and talent to the Xbox, as well as a proven track record of creating blockbusters.
ALL READY FOR THE XBOX LAUNCH
Microsoft plans to bring Bethesda's upcoming titles (including the epic Starfield) to Xbox Game Pass on the day of their launch on Xbox or PC.
With its investments in content, the community and the cloud, Microsoft stands out for its strategy that aims to allow gamers to play the games of their choice with whoever they want and wherever they want.
COMPETING WITH PLAYSTAION
As Cnet points out, the new game consoles of the Redmond giant will compete with PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, also due out in November.
AFTER THE FAILURE TO ACQUIRE TIKTOK
Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax also comes after the disappointment of not participating in TikTok , the popular short video app from China's ByteDance. TikTok attracted over 2 billion downloads worldwide and over 100 million users in the United States, but it has come under the Trump administration's sights.
“We believe that our proposal would have been good for TikTok users, and at the same time it would have protected national security interests,” Nadella commented on ByteDance's rejection of her proposal last week.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/microsoft-zenimax-media-bethesda-xbox/ on Tue, 22 Sep 2020 13:00:58 +0000.