Bethesda to Continue to Publish Its Own Games, According to Pete Hines - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 October 2020 / 3,320 Views
Microsoft today announced they have acquired Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion. Microsoft plans to honor the Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo PlayStation exclusivity deals. However, Future Bethesda games will be on Xbox, PC, and "other consoles on a case by case basis."
Vice president of global marketing at Bethesda Pete Hines has stated the company will continue to publish its own games.
"Bethesda Softworks, our parent company ZeniMax Media, and our many internal studios, now employ thousands of talented people working in publishing offices and development studios around the world," said Hines. "We’ve gone from one internal studio to many; from a focus on single-player fantasy RPGS to developing massive MMOs, first person shooters, and everything in between. The world, our industry, and our company has changed a lot in the 34 years since Bethesda Softworks was first founded. Today, it changed again. And I know that brings up questions.
"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.
"So why the change? Because it allows us to make even better games going forward. Microsoft is an incredible partner and offers access to resources that will make us a better publisher and developer. We believe that means better games for you to play. Simply put - we believe that change is an important part of getting better. We believe in pushing ourselves to be better. To innovate. To grow.
"And, we have a long history of working with Microsoft. Our companies share many of the same basic principles. We believe in a culture that values passion, quality, collaboration, and innovation. When I think back to the first time we decided to shift from being a PC-only developer and make Morrowind for the original Xbox, it was a move that countless people said would never work…nobody on consoles wanted a game that big and complex. But Microsoft believed in us and so did you. And now RPGs of all shapes and sizes are hugely successful on consoles.
"Yes, it’s a big change for us, but after taking a minute to absorb the magnitude of this acquisition, we’re going to continue doing what we know and love: making great games. We’re going to keep trying new things. We’re going to take the same passion we’ve poured into what we do, and the passion that our community brings to the things we make, and do even better."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Now this will bring tons of exclusives to xbox and with some luck Bethesda gets some usefull tools to upgrade their engine.
I'm no fan of Xbox and prefer PlayStation by a lot, but I think this is kind of a cool throwback to the sixth generation of consoles where Xbox leaned more toward PC-type games as Bethesda and id tend to release. Morrowind and Quake 4 were Xbox console exclusives, after all. Not to mention, Microsoft seems more than willing to allow their own games to release on Switch, so I don't expect that effort to slow down with regard to Bethesda's great streak of published Switch games, either.
Bethesda has the freedom to publish its own games. That's good. But at the end of the day Microsoft has the final say so in everything. The 9th gen just gets more and more interesting. If Microsoft really wants to, they can put even more pressure on Sony. I mean they're a $1 trillion dollar company. Sony will definetly respond to this. HUGE FOR US GAMERS :D Sony PS5 and Microsoft Series X is heating up!
It isn't good for us gamers. It either means more content locked up behind walled gardens or one mega-company controlling the whole industry. I'd see your point if Microsoft was actually using its money to build its own talent rather than buying other companies because they have no talent of their own.
At the end of the day, Microsoft could buy the PlayStation division from Sony, or buy all of Sony for that matter. That would be very bad for gaming, as it would concentrate the power in even fewer hands. But, I agree that the purchase of Bethesda is probably good for gamers. Let's be honest, they have a recent reputation for releasing unfinished games. But, after being swallowed up by a behemoth like MS, the pressure to post quarterly results is greatly reduced. So, they may be able to take more time when needed. Let's be honest, even the biggest Bethesda titles won't move the needle on MS' financial performance when they're delayed by a quarter or two.
Also, MS has shown recently that they're okay with publishing their games on other platforms. So, I am nearly certain that the mainline Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and other big Bethesda franchises will continue to be multi-platform. Maybe XB/PC will get an occasional exclusive spinoff from one of the series, or a new IP will be exclusive. But, I'd bet heavily that TES:6 and Fallout 5 come to PS.
Microsoft itself has a reputation for buggy, unfinished products. And generally, larger companies are more strict on deadlines and milestones than smaller companies.
I'm not aware that MS has such a reputation. They made a mess of MCC, but that's all I can think of. But, gamers have been shit talking the quality of Bethesda games for the last several years. It would seem to me that they've been taken over by a company with better quality control practices.
It's going to be funny to see Microsoft at the start of the game on a PS5 exclusive game.
Sounds kinda like this was MS purchasing the company and Xbox part of them will just benefit somewhat. We know if things truely change in 16 years when Bethesda actually make ES6. :P
so they will still release multiplatform then? with this statement?
From IGN, possibly alluding to games still being multi-platform: While avoiding any specifics, Todd Howard also alluded to the idea of exclusives indicating, perhaps that Bethesda would not be limited to the Xbox ecosystem: "Like our original partnership, this one is about more than one system or one screen. We share a deep belief in the fundamental power of games, in their ability to connect, empower, and bring joy. And a belief we should bring that 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."
Todd Howard is now just an employee of Microsoft. Satya Nadella and Microsoft shareholders have the final say. Howard's professed beliefs mean nothing.
Bethesda is still going to publish their own games, so there might be something to his words here.
Thankfully Fallout 76 and Doom Eternal killed whatever interest I had in Bethesda.
Doom Eternal is a great game. Not sure how that would kill your interest.
After the failure of fallout 76 and todd howard and the inability to give a better game engine, even within fallout 4, i honestly don't see much hope for future fallout/starfield,elder scrolls etc
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