Microsoft Buys Bethesda: EVERY Studio Xbox Now Owns

Notable Games: The Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series (2008 -)

While Bethesda Softworks has been making games since 1986 (juggling between The Elder Scrolls games and movie license tie-ins), once ZeniMax Media was formed as a parent company in 1999, the Softworks name was retained strictly for the publishing wing and the game development side was monikered Bethesda Game Studios.

The split created great momentum for the studio, starting with Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, one of the first major RPGs that landed on consoles. The double punch of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 in the 360/PS3 era took the console generation by storm and the company (along with Bioware) helped break the RPG genre away from niche PC roots into massive mainstream success.

The developers have since zig-zagged between their iconic fantasy Elder Scroll titles and their reinvention of the dystopian sci-fi series Fallout over a successful period in the 2010s. However, although Skyrim was likely the most successful RPG ever made, the disastrous MMO Fallout 76 dampened the studio's rep in recent years.

Regardless, one game cannot bring this behemoth down, and with Elder Scrolls VI and (new IP) Starfield in development - and now likely Xbox exclusives - Bethesda is surely the most important studio now in Xbox's library.