Microsoft may have lost the race for TikTok, but the company has managed to secure a different company under its wing. It has purchased Bethesda, which owns several famous video game series such as Fallout, Doom, and The Elder Scrolls, for $7.5 billion---the biggest acquisition in video gaming history.

What's Happening With Microsoft and Bethesda?

The news of the acquisition arrived on the Microsoft News Center, which goes into detail about the purchase. The gaming industry is expected to reach an annual revenue of $200 billion in 2021, so Microsoft wants as many players in the game development industry as possible.

The acquisition goes a little further than Bethesda. Microsoft is buying all of ZeniMax Media, which is the parent company of Bethesda. However, it's the latter company that Microsoft is most interested in, given the popular games that Bethesda has under its belt.

With this acquisition, Microsoft now owns 23 creative studio teams, up from its previous count of 15. This will dramatically increase the number of studios that Microsoft can use to create and publish games.

The Future of Microsoft and Bethesda

This acquisition is a little more than just Microsoft hedging its bets in the gaming market. The company will also bring in Bethesda's works into the Xbox Game Pass. Any future game that Bethesda releases will be on the Game Pass from day one.

The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, had this to say about this acquisition:

Gaming is the most expansive category in the entertainment industry, as people everywhere turn to gaming to connect, socialize and play with their friends. Quality differentiated content is the engine behind the growth and value of Xbox Game Pass from Minecraft to Flight Simulator.

As a proven game developer and publisher, Bethesda has seen success across every category of games, and together, we will further our ambition to empower the more than three billion gamers worldwide.

Another Strong Showing for Microsoft's Gaming Scene

With the purchase of Bethesda, Microsoft is in a strong position to compete better against Sony and Nintendo within the gaming scene. We'll have to see what Microsoft does with the famed game development studio after the purchase is complete.

If you've never heard of Bethesda before, you owe it to yourself to check out the company's collection of games. We named several of Bethesda's titles as some of the best RPGs available on Steam.

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