SEC approves Microsoft's $7.5 billion Bethesda purchase

Microsoft’s offer to purchase Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Studios for $7.5 billion has been approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, reports Gamespot.

The regulator has posted a “notice of effectiveness” for the deal on the 4th March which suggests the deal has been approved.

Microsoft of course has more to worry about than US regulators, with the more hostile European Comission still to deliver their own decision.  This decision is set to be published imminently, however, with the decision set to have been made on the 5th March 2021.

If it goes through, Microsoft’s deal will give the company access to a huge collection of studios and IPs. Not only will the company gain access to massive studios like Bethesda Game Studios and id Software, but also smaller teams like Tango Gameworks.

All future Zenimax games published under Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios will come to the video game subscription service Xbox Game Pass. While exclusivity will be decided on a case by case basis, there’s a chance that most games from the studio could be only available on the Xbox and PC platforms.