Shocking the world over the past few days, Microsoft announced that it was acquiring ZeniMax Media, the owners of video game publishing giant Bethesda. Fans immediately began to speculate about what the roughly 7.5 billion-dollar deal could mean for the future of gaming, with it seeming ever-more likely that upcoming blockbusters like The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield could be Xbox-exclusive offerings.
That’s a huge deal for a console that, only a week ago, had a severe exclusive problem. But exactly who does Microsoft now have under its first-party banner that can offer star-power equivalent to the likes of Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, or Sony Santa Monica. Well, in truth, it has quite a few studios on that level, with the developers now at Microsoft’s disposal having worked on some of the biggest games of the last few years. With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look over exactly which studios now reside under Microsoft following its hefty transaction with Zenimax Media.
Easily one of the biggest names on the shooter market, id Software has a history of developing some of the most essential releases in the history of the medium. Most avid video game fans will likely have heard of the studio due to the likes of Doom, Wolfenstein, or Quake, with the trifecta of classic shooters going down as some of the best of all time. While Quake has eventually begun to phase out of the mainstream gaming scene – and id entrusted Wolfenstein with MachineGames – the company has been killing it recently with the Doom franchise, which has benefitted from two critically and commercially acclaimed mainline releases in recent years.
Doom‘s big return in 2016 brought the series back to life in style, resurrecting the Doom Slayer and his arsenal of deadly weaponry with a more fast-paced, arcadey adventure. The studio followed that up with this year’s Doom Eternal, which succeeded in deepening Doom 2016’s rewarding gameplay and adding more challenging foes for players to battle. id is an incredibly valuable developer for Xbox to have under its banner, especially with the company doing some of its best work in years right now with the Doom IP. It’ll be interesting to see whether the franchise becomes a staple of the Xbox exclusive line-up in the years to come, with Doom easily standing as a name big enough to rival some of Sony’s most notable releases.
Taking over the Wolfenstein series and releasing New Order back in 2014, Machine Games has since transformed the once-dormant franchise into one of the most must-play action staples of the current generation. With little hype or fanfare, the team dropped an outstanding shooter in Wolfenstein: New Order, using the game’s unique setting and retro roots to make a fluid action game with a ton of style. Better yet, It followed the reboot up with an expansion titled Old Blood later that year, with the supremely fun DLC focusing on the more paranormal and wacky tone of earlier Wolfenstein games.
A fully-fledged sequel called Wolfenstein: New Colossus followed it up in 2017 while its more polarizing co-op expansion Wolfenstein: Youngblood hit shelves in 2019. Over the course of six years, Machine Games has shown that it can create huge experiences with fun-focused gameplay and engaging storytelling, easily proving that it’ll be a great asset to Microsoft. Whether that’s through making the inevitable threequel in its new line of Wolfenstein reboots or perhaps moving on to a fresh IP entirely, MachineGames is one of the brightest names in shooters right now and one Microsoft is lucky to own.
Headed by the legendary Shinji Mikami of Resident Evil fame, Tango Gameworks offers an interesting prospect to Microsoft. While most of its AAA studios dabble heavily in shooters, racing games, and RPGs, Tango Gameworks specializes largely in the horror genre. The studio brought The Evil Within to screens back in 2014, making a big impact with Mikami fans who wanted to see his signature horror style brandished by a fresh franchise. It did so well that a sequel followed suit in 2017, with many agreeing it built well on its predecessor and stood as one of the best horror experiences of the generation.
The team is currently hard at work on the upcoming Ghostwire Tokyo, and although Mikami isn’t in the director’s chair for the exciting new project, it looks to be just as experimental and interesting as his best work. Looking at both Sony and Microsoft, there is a big void in both company’s first-party line-up for some exceptional AAA horror titles, so Xbox would be wise to utilize the major star power behind Tango Gameworks to make something special. Mikami is a huge name after all, and it seems wise for the company to work with him on a big project that makes Xbox the home for passionate horror enthusiasts.
Ever since the company released Dishonored back in 2012, Arkane Studios has been nigh unstoppable when it comes to putting out exceptional games. It garnered wide acclaim for its seminal supernatural assassination adventure, with many celebrating the studio’s ability to craft truly immersive worlds and fill them with compelling lore. The acclaim only grew with the release of Dishonored 2 back in 2016, with the pair of games quickly amassing a giant fan base. Arkane didn’t rest on its laurels though, moving on to develop the reboot of sci-fi shooter Prey in 2017. The studio is now close to releasing yet another game in early 2020, with Arkane putting the finishing touches on its time-bending stealth-action title Deathloop.
If there’s any studio that could offer exciting, unique, and wholly original exclusives for Xbox players, it’s Arkane Studios, with the team frequently proving it has an unparalleled ability to build engaging worlds traversable through solid gameplay. Whether the team will return to the Dishonored series on Xbox or continue its mission to tell new stories through every outing, it’s clear Microsoft looks to gain a lot from its partnership with the talented studio. Hopefully, it’ll lead to some high-caliber releases in the years to come.
Chances are fans will know the name ZeniMax Online because of one game in particular: The Elder Scrolls Online. The incredibly popular MMO is easily one of the most lucrative parts of Bethesda’s gaming empire, boasting millions of players and tons of meaningful expansions over its roughly six years on the market. In that time, players have journeyed to several major locations from The Elder Scrolls universe, including Morrowind, Summerset, and Elsweyr. There’s no denying such a huge multiplayer property will mean a lot to Microsoft, especially as it could introduce more players to the game and its DLC when combined with Xbox Game Pass.
Zenimax Online might not seem like a name that can pack the same star power as ID Software, Arkane Studios, or Bethesda Game Studios, but it’s undeniably a solid pillar that Xbox can build on now its partnered with Bethesda. Seeing as the console didn’t have a major MMO under its banner prior to the acquisition, it’ll be interesting to see what Xbox will do with The Elder Scrolls Online in the years to come.
Although they’re currently the lesser-known of Bethesda’s studios, both Alpha Dog and Roundhouse Studios present a lot of great opportunities for Microsoft. The former specializes in mobile games, with the team dropping raiding-strategy game Monstrocity: Rampage somewhat recently and previously developing an action RPG called Wraithborne. It’s always good to have studios working on games for a wide variety of audiences, and mobile titles are undeniably a huge part of that.
Roundhouse Studios is the more mysterious of the pair. It was formed late last year, with the team devised of members of the ill-fated Human Head Studios which developed the original Prey back in 2006. The team was also slated to work on the eagerly-awaited Prey 2 before the bounty-hunter action game was canceled and went on to develop the critically panned The Quiet Man. The team eventually went under but was brought back as Roundhouse Studios by Bethesda and put to work on a new project. Hopefully, this mysterious game will be able to match the creativity of the first Prey, which garnered a cult following after its release.
The developer of The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios might just be the biggest name currently associated with the Xbox brand. The studio has delivered some of the most defining RPGs of the last two decades, becoming synonymous with audiences for its large worlds filled with quests to complete, enemies to slay and adventures to be had. From Morrowind and Oblivion to Fallout 3 and Skyrim, there are few video game enthusiasts who haven’t been fully sucked into a Bethesda Game Studios experience, making these RPGs the stuff of legend.
Looking ahead, Microsoft is going to want to take full advantage of the studio’s vast line-up of incredible franchises. Whether that means making the team’s long-awaited release of new IP Starfield into an exclusive experience or maybe even doing the same with the massively-hyped Elder Scrolls 6, it seems wise to imagine the studio will be a big part of Xbox’s strategy going forward. The console manufacturer would also be wise to use the studio’s incredible properties to license some long-awaited, fan-requested games, including a potential Fallout: New Vegas sequel from Obsidian. Regardless, with Todd Howard and his team now working alongside Microsoft, the company seems primed to make the Xbox a must-have console.
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