The acquisition of ZeniMax Media by Microsoft has shaken the entire video game market, along with the properties of Bethesda Softworks and its Bethesda Game Studios, creator of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout titles among others.
Asked about this in an interview on the GameReactor.eu site, the executive Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, has however explained that right now the official deal is not yet closed, but it will become so only in 2021.
In that sense, Spencer stated the following in the interview: “First of all, I would like to say that we haven’t acquired ZeniMax. We have announced our intention to acquire ZeniMax. It is going through regulatory approval and we don’t see any issues there. We expect early in 2021 the deal will close.”
Why this clarification, then? Spencer explains that it is due to the fact that some people already imagine him talking to Todd Howard and his companions to organize the future of Bethesda: something that, until there are no signed papers, Microsoft will not be able to do.
In that sense, Spencer commented on the following: “I say that because I want people to know, I’m not sitting down with Todd Howard and Robert Altman and planning their future. Because I’m currently not allowed to do that, that would be illegal. Your question is completely inbound, but I get a lot of questions right now: “is this game exclusive? Is this game exclusive?” And right now, that is not my job in regards to ZeniMax. My job is not to sit down and go through their portfolio and dictate what happens.”
We will therefore see what the union of these forces will be able to give to gamers. We remind you that Microsoft has announced that for future exclusive titles, such as those of The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield, it will decide on a case-by-case basis.
