Microsoft is in the process of closing a $7.5 billion deal to acquire Bethesda Softworks’ parent company, ZeniMax Media. As such, the house of Xbox now owns all of the publisher’s studios and properties, DOOM, Wolfenstein, Dishonored, and The Elder Scrolls included. What might this mean for future releases on PlayStation? That much remains unclear. However, Bethesda has at least noted it will continue to self-publish its own projects.
This development comes courtesy of a blog post from Bethesda’s SVP of PR and Marketing, Pete Hines. In it, Hines states in part, “but the key point is we’re still Bethesda. We’re still working on the same games we were yesterday, made by the same studios we’ve worked with for years, and those games will be published by us.”
Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard shared a lengthy statement of his own. One short blurb is especially worthy of mention, as Howard tells fans, “…this [partnership] is about more than one system or one screen.” He adds that the deal centers on the belief that “we should bring [the power of games] to everyone–regardless of who you are, where you live, or what you play on. Regardless of the screen size, the controller, or your ability to even use one.”
While these statements seem to suggest Bethesda’s projects will continue to launch on multiple platforms, no such clarity is available as of yet. It’s clearly the question everyone is most eager to have answered, though. When Bethesda and Microsoft plan to lift the lid on the specifics presently remains unknown.
This particular deal boasts a few interesting twists and turns on the PlayStation side of things, too. Many may recall that Bethesda Softworks has two projects in development that will serve as timed exclusives on PS5–Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Presumably, these exclusivity deals are remaining intact.
[Source: Bethesda.net]
