The big news topic right now in gaming is Microsoft announcing this morning the purchase of ZeniMax Media and, by virtue of this purchase their acquisition of Bethesda, among some other smaller studios.
Make no mistake, this is a major play on Microsoft’s part. Many, however, are wanting to treat this like it’s nothing special – that it’s just one company buying another company like happens all the time in gaming and yes, that is true.
Others also bring up that generally quality has been slipping (to put it nicely) from Bethesda over recent years. I’ll certainly agree – Fallout 76, as just one example among several, seems to have been a disaster that’s only reasonably better now, from what I’ve heard.
Still, that doesn’t change one key fact: Bethesda fans are incredibly loyal. Almost religiously so.
Let me make things very clear – I’m not much of a Bethesda fan. While I’d say they have released good games I also fully admit that I care little for their two biggest franchises, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. I find Skyrim, as the quintessential Elder Scrolls game, to be one of the most boring experiences I’ve ever had in gaming, and virtually nothing about the Fallout universe interests me in the least – it doesn’t even do post-apocalyptic worlds in a way that I can get interested in. I say this only to express that I come from an attitude of “I just don’t care” when it comes to their works – I’d be happy not having played any of them.
However, the fans, and their loyalty, cannot be underestimated. These are people who constantly buy anything with vault boy on it – who have 10,000+ hour in Skyrim and own it for every system it was ever released on. These are people who in casual conversation with me go into detail on everything wrong with Fallout 76 but still have played it all the way through!
Clearly, even if the company puts out stuff many find lackluster, the fans will follow. This means Microsoft now has a pretty reasonable audience eating out of their hands, so to speak.
Now, that’s not to say Bethesda products have never been on Xbox before – obviously, they have. However, something I’ve noticed in my personal experience is that a reasonable chunk of Bethesda fans also happen to be very hardcore to the PlayStation side of the pointless thing that are console wars.
Right now, of course, no one is saying anything that Bethesda was working on is suddenly going to become Xbox exclusive, but it’s entirely possible that could happen and, with that, would come those Bethesda fans wanting to play the new games, especially in the series they love.
Even if they aren’t exclusive, this still is an audience that Microsoft would benefit from for every unit sold, and that alone is quite possibly worth it to them. Clearly they took the risk (at seven and a half billion dollars) and there certainly have to be things we don’t know about yet in the works. This purchase happened incredibly close to the release of the new consoles, so time will tell exactly what happens.
All I’m saying is this – don’t treat this like it isn’t something major. If you do, you’ve obviously never been around a Fallout fan. They adore these games and I’m quite certain they will follow the company wherever it goes.
More to come, as always.
https://bethesda.net/en/article/1iLtcvwY6Nb1GeKADyDUEX/why-microsoft-is-the-perfect-fit