EU approves Microsoft’s $7.5 billion Bethesda purchase

Following the recent approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, The European Commission has also approved Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition.

As reported by The Verge, the acquisition has been approved without conditions, as it “does not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market.”

This acquisition brings Microsoft’s total number of first-party studios up to 23, up from 15, with the ZeniMax deal bringing in Deathloop developer Arkane, DOOM’s id Software, and of course, Bethesda themselves.

With the approval of this acquisition, all future ZeniMax games are set to be on Xbox Game Pass on day one.

Xbox’s Phil Spencer has explained that the timed exclusivity of Deathloop and GhostWire: Tokyo won’t be affected by the acquisition. However with future Xenimax games being assessed for “other consoles on a case by case basis” it’s likely most games till be only available on Xbox and PC platforms going forwards.