Microsoft has announced the completion of its $7.5 billion acquisition of video game developer ZeniMax. The announcement that the deal has closed comes just one day after Microsoft received approval from the European Commission.
ZeniMax is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, which is best known as the creator of popular video games such as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.
With the acquisition, the Xbox maker’s powerhouse video gaming division appears to be shifting strategy. While the company’s history obviously lies in hardware as the maker of one of the world’s most popular gaming consoles, it appears to be pivoting towards a hybrid strategy.
Microsoft has been focused on building the Xbox Game Pass subscription business, a service that can be most simply understood as Netflix for gaming.
This acquisition will allow Microsoft to produce an increasing amount of exclusive content for Game Pass, a strategy that’s not dissimilar from the development of original programming at traditional streaming services.