After the industry shaking news yesterday of Microsoft purchasing ZeniMax Media and thus Bethesda Softworks (which our Head Editor analyzed here), CEO Satya Nadella doubled-down on their investment into the gaming space.
In an interview, Nadella made it clear that the company intends to reach more of the 3 billion gamers in the world; a direction that has been echoed by his Xbox leadership for some time now.
“You can’t wake up one day and say, ‘Let me build a game studio,'” Nadella said in an interview after the company announced its $7.5 billion cash purchase of ZeniMax Media, which owns several industry-leading game developers, including Bethesda Softworks and Id Software. “The idea of having content is so we can reach larger communities.”
As reported by CNET, Nadella’s focus with the Xbox Division is content. And in that vein, he is open to more acquisitions in the future.
That’s why Microsoft will consider buying even more video game companies in the future, he said, and why it continues to invest in its Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
Head of Xbox and Gaming for Microsoft, Phil Spencer, had the following to say regarding the Bethesda acquisition.
“Content is just the incredible ingredient to our platform that we continue to invest in,” Xbox head Phil Spencer said in that same interview. “This doubles the size of our creative organization.”
Our Take
If it wasn’t clear by now, Microsoft is very invested in the gaming industry and this won’t change any time soon. The global gaming industry is growing exponentially year over year and Microsoft has committed itself to being a leading player. Stay tuned.
[…] In the end, it’s the final product that matters, and the games will need to speak for themselves. But if you weren’t already convinced that Microsoft and Xbox were very serious about broadening their content portfolio, there shouldn’t be any doubt now. And add to that the fact that Microsoft CEO Nadella himself has made their intentions in the gaming space very clear. […]