Microsoft to buy Bethesda Studios for nearly $10 billion CAD just in time for the next-gen Xbox

The next-gen console war is heating up. Microsoft has announced plans to buy the video game company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion USD, or nearly $9.9 billion CAD. ZeniMax Media is the home to id Software, Arkane Studios, and Bethesda Studios, responsible for huge game franchises including Fallout, Doom, Wolfenstein, and The Elder Scrolls.

“Just as they took the bold first steps to bring The Elder Scrolls franchise to the original Xbox, Bethesda were early supporters of Xbox Game Pass, bringing their games to new audiences across devices and have been actively investing in new gaming technology like cloud streaming of games,” said Xbox head Phil Spencer in a recent blog post.

The purchase means the widely successful franchises will be available for the Xbox Game Pass, just in time for the launch of the next-gen Xbox consoles, the Xbox Series X and Series S, due on November 10.

The previouslty announced Bethesda Playstation 5 titles Deathloop and Chostwire: Tokyo will remain Playstation 5 exclusives for now. No word yet if future Bethesda titles will be exclusive to Microsoft, but either way this definitely sweetens the deal for those grabbing a nex-gen Xbox this November or those who currently use Game Pass.

Stay tuned for pre-order details on the upcoming Xbox consoles.