Microsoft to Buy ZeniMax, Bethesda Games Subsidiary for $7.5B Cash

Microsoft will pay $7.5 billion cash for ZeniMax Media and its Bethesda Softworks, said Microsoft Monday. Bethesda “brings an impressive portfolio of games, technology, talent, as well as a track record of blockbuster commercial success, to Xbox,” it said. It expands Microsoft’s “creative studio teams” to 23 from 15 and enables Microsoft to bring Bethesda's franchises to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service the same day they launch for the Xbox console or PC, it said. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of fiscal 2021 ending late June.