Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax is all but complete since it received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission. Microsoft did not let up and began a series of work without a stop.
First, 20 of Bethesda's games are now available on the Xbox Game Pass. Sixteen of those games are now available on console, PC, and cloud gaming platforms, making Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass an overnight addition to several classic titles. But that was just the beginning. Soon afterwards, Microsoft head Phil Spencer revealed that some of Bethesda's games would become Microsoft's platform exclusives in the future to make the Xbox Game Pass more competitive.
Since Bethesda has so many high-impact IPs on its hands, Phil Spencer won't elaborate on which titles are involved, but it's sure to skew some players toward Microsoft's platform. Microsoft paid more than $7.5 billion for the acquisition, which is believed to be a big part of the reason.
Of course, it's not over yet, as Microsoft has announced that FPS Boost for Xbox Series X/S will power five of Bethesda's games, including Fallout 4. Microsoft's FPS Boost feature on the Xbox Series X/S, which lets older games run at 30FPS up to 60FPS, aims to Boost the frame-rate of some older games with the power of next-gen consoles.
The quick move took about a week. While Microsoft and Bethesda have already worked together, it's clear that the company is taking Bethesda seriously, possibly as potential leverage against Sony in the gaming space.
