Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax gets approval from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Earlier last year, Microsoft announced that it will be acquiring Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda, for $7.5 billion. The purchase was one of the biggest moves in the gaming industry’s history. After an approval process, we are now one step closer to the purchase being final.

Just yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a notice of the effectiveness of the purchase. In plain terms, this means that the purchase of ZeniMax by Microsoft has been accepted in the United States after a review process.

All that is left now is for the European Commission to approve the purchase as well. Once that is filed, the acquisition is final. A buyout of this magnitude was always going to take quite some time. During the timeframe between the purchase and the present day, Bethesda fans have had questions on how this move will affect exclusivity rights to Bethesda titles.

Microsoft is still honoring deals Bethesda had before the purchase, such as Deathloop being a timed exclusive on the PlayStation 5 for a year. However, once the deal is final, we have all been wondering if future Bethesda titles will be exclusive to Xbox and PC. We guess we will just have to wait to find out, possibly at a future event.