Community Download is a weekly discussion-focused article series published (usually) every Monday in which we pose a single, core question to you all, our readers, in the spirit of fostering discussion and debate. For today’s Community Download, we want to know what you think about the Microsoft purchase of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax!
Today a huge bombshell dropped when Microsoft announced that it was purchasing ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda. This grants ownership of developers like Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, Arkane Studios, and more to Microsoft making them the owners of The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, and many others.
That’s huge news!
But what does it mean for VR? We all know Microsoft doesn’t have the best track record with supporting VR as a platform, so could this theoretically limit these studios in terms of their VR support? We’ve already gotten VR entries for The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Prey from Bethesda properties so it makes you wonder if any future VR projects are at risk of changing or being canceled.
However, you can’t deny this absolutely does mean there is more funding at the hands of these teams. inXile is working on Frostpoint, a VR-only shooter, that’s coming this year and they’re owned by Microsoft, so it’s not a deal breaker at all. If Microsoft continues to fund and publish ZeniMax games on multiple platforms then it’s a net positive for everyone, really.
What do you think? Is this going to end up being a good thing for VR? Let us know down in the comments below!
