Microsoft to Buy Video-Game Maker ZeniMax Media for $7.5 Billion -- Update
22 September 2020 - 12:45AM
Dow Jones News
By Matt Grossman
Microsoft Corp. said Monday it would buy ZeniMax Media, parent
company of videogame publisher Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion
in cash.
Bethesda Softworks is the publisher of videogames such as
"DOOM," "The Elder Scrolls" and the "Fallout" series. Other ZeniMax
subsidiaries include id Software, MachineGames and Tango
Gameworks.
The deal includes ZeniMax's offices and studios with more than
2,300 employees, according to Microsoft. The acquisition will
expand Microsoft's gaming operations to 23 creative studio teams,
from 15 now. The deal will also add ZeniMax videogame franchises to
Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service that runs on
Microsoft's Xbox console.
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella called gaming "the most
expansive category in the entertainment industry," citing a
statistic that more than 3 billion people world-wide play
videogames.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of fiscal 2021,
Microsoft said.
Microsoft is expected to release two new Xbox videogame consoles
this fall, including a pared-down version that is smaller than
previous Xbox models and will lack a disc drive. The devices would
be follow-ups to the most recent Xbox-series console, which the
Redmond, Wash.-based company rolled out in 2013.
Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2020 10:30 ET (14:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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