Microsoft : to acquire ZeniMax Media and its game publisher, Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion
September 21, 2020 at 09:20 am EDT
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As the gaming industry transforms from a device-centric to player-centric form of entertainment, Microsoft announced plans today to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, one of the largest privately held game developers and publishers in the world.
Creators of critically acclaimed and best-selling gaming franchises including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and many others, Bethesda brings an impressive portfolio of games, technology and talent - as well as a track record of blockbuster commercial success - to Xbox.
As an industry, gaming is expected to be worth more than $200 billion in annual revenue in 2021. Games are the primary growth engine, and they are fueling new cloud-gaming services like Xbox Game Pass, which has reached a new milestone of over 15 million subscribers.
With the addition of Bethesda, Microsoft will grow from 15 to 23 creative studio teams and will be adding Bethesda's iconic franchises to Xbox Game Pass.
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Microsoft Corporation published this content on 21 September 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 September 2020 13:19:04 UTC
Microsoft Corporation is the world's leader in the design, development and marketing of operating systems and software programs for PC's and servers. The group also builds and sells computer equipment. Net sales break down by activity as follows:
- sale of operating systems and application development tools (47.9%): primarily for servers (Azure, SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Center, GitHub, etc.) and (Windows);
- development of cloud-based software applications (23%): programs for productivity (Microsoft 365; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access), integrated management and customer relationship management (Dynamics 365), online file sharing and management (OneDrive), and unified and collaborative communications (Skype and Microsoft Teams);
- sale of video gaming hardware and software (7.3%) : mainly Xbox;
- enterprise services (3.6%);
- sale of computers, tablets and accessories (2.6%);
- other (15.6%).
The United States accounts for 50.4% of net sales.
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