The acquisition of ZeniMax Media by Microsoft caused waves on social media, with users giving mixed reaction to the news. Now that the deal is sealed, new games made by a popular gaming studio Bethesda Softworks will now be included in the Xbox Game Pass.
"Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world. Our teams have a close and storied history working together, from the amazing first DOOM, and its id Tech engine, innovating games on PCs to Bethesda bringing their first console game to the original Xbox, the groundbreaking The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind", said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, in a statement announcing the deal.
The announcement was seen by many as a punch toward one of Xbox's main rivals, Sony's PlayStation console, with netizens immediately coming up with jokes and memes.
Many users raised concerns that Microsoft's purchase may mean that Bethesda games could become Xbox exclusives, which, however, was not detailed in the announcement. PC users seemed to be the least impressed with the news.
Others rolled out different suggestions on how things may be working out for Bethesda now that it is acquired by Microsoft.
Some recalled other Microsoft-related game publishers - Obsidian, where employees, according to users, "did not expect that", and Lionhead - the now closed game studio that was purchased by the tech giant back in 2006.
Oh man... All that news about Microsoft acquiring Zenimax/Bethesda has me thinking about what happened to Lionhead just a few years ago... pic.twitter.com/polo04hq17
The deal between Microsoft and ZeniMax was announced on Monday, and the tech giant will acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash - said to be one of the biggest deals in the industry of online gaming.
Bethesda is confirmed to be joining the Xbox family, with new games to be available via the Xbox Game Pass. The firm is behind such popular games as Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Dishonored, Fallout, Prey, Quake and many others.