Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax (the studio behind Bethesda and several game studios) is official. The EU Commission has approved the $7.5 billion acquisition along with the US’ SEC which gave a greenlit with the deal and giving a Notice of Effectiveness (S-4, this certifies that a merger or acquisition has been approved).
When the deal closes, ZeniMax would then be allowed to have semi-independent control over its leadership under Microsoft. This also changes things with all ZeniMax-owned games which would be available to play through the Xbox Game Pass subscription. Microsoft will also push Bethesda to make their games be “first or better or best” on Xbox.
The EU Commission also writes that the proposed acquisition would not raise any competition concerns and “given the combined entity’s limited market position upstream and the presence of strong downstream competitors in the distribution of video games. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure.”
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