The Horrible Truth Behind Microsoft Buying Bethesda
The Console Wars Are Over, Subscriptions Are The Future
As we enter the new gaming generation, paying for a subscription to a library of games, rather than buying each separately at extortionate release prices, will become the norm. And Microsoft seems to be leading that brigade with the well-established Xbox Game Pass.
PlayStation Now is, of course, a worthy competitor, yet Microsoft has significantly improved its portfolio with the Zenimax acquisition. Microsoft could pull the licenses to games like Doom, Wolfenstein, and Fallout from PlayStation Now. That seems like a drastic move to many, but to Bethesda’s ex-founder Christopher Weaver, it's not impossible:
"There are only a limited number of proven creators of AAA. What Microsoft owns, Sony cannot get."
In all honesty, Microsoft doesn’t need to spite PlayStation players. Microsoft can make a profit licensing Zenimax and Bethesda IPs to PlayStation Now, resting easy in the knowledge they’re paying zilch to put those games onto Game Pass.
Sony is also financially unable to make big acquisitions, while Microsoft has the cash to spend expanding its franchise empire. The company has already incorporated EA Play into Xbox Game Pass, and rumours have circulated for years that Microsoft has its eyes on Sega. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said herself that Microsoft is looking for more studios to buy:
"We'll always look for places where there is that commonality of purpose, mission and culture."
Amazon's new Luna platform may have a shot at competing with Microsoft financially, but Amazon Game Studios has only just turned its head away from mobile games and onto AAA game development. Microsoft is, in every way, ahead of the competition in the game streaming market. Not even PC gamers are safe, with the beta version for PC Xbox Game Pass now online. With other companies scrambling to follow Microsoft's footsteps, we only have to look at past problems with other entertainment streaming services and monopolies to see the dark future looming for the gaming industry.