Microsoft has made a huge acquisition and become the new owner of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. This will bring countless huge series such as "The Elder Scrolls," "Fallout," "Doom," "Quake," and "Dishonored" under the Xbox umbrella. Amazing.

The deal was announced today by Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

"Bethesda games have always had a special place in the hearts of millions of gamers on Xbox and around the world. Our teams have had a close and historic working relationship, from the amazing first "DOOM" and its id Tech engine that revolutionized gaming on the PC, to the groundbreaking "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind," Bethesda's first console game on the original Xbox The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind", Bethesda's first console game. Over the years, I have had many deep conversations with Bethesda's creative leadership about the future of gaming, and we have long shared a similar vision of the opportunities for creators and their games to reach more players in more ways."

The list of studios involved in this acquisition, consisting of approximately 2,300 people, and the games they represent, is as follows. The impact is undoubtedly significant: Xbox Game Studios now has Bethesda and Obsidian. Could the stars finally align for New Vegas 2, or even a remake? It's not yet clear what will come out of the deal, at least in terms of new games, but Spencer did mention an "unannounced" game that Bethesda is preparing.

While we await the fruits of the partnership, more Bethesda games, both console and PC, will be coming to Xbox Game Pass; some, like "Fallout 76," are already offered, but in the future Bethesda games will appear on the service at launch will likely begin to appear on the service at launch.

Bethesda is a multi-platform publisher, but the acquisition puts the future of Bethesda games on other consoles in jeopardy. Several of their upcoming games have already been announced for various platforms, but what's next The Elder Scrolls? The next Fallout?may only be seen on PC and Xbox.

Matt Firor, studio director of ZeniMax Online Studios, issued a statement on Twitter regarding The Elder Scrolls Online, reassuring players that nothing will change:

Another statement, Bethesda director Todd Howard said, "This (partnership) is more than one system or one screen. This deal cost Microsoft $7.5 billion, and Microsoft will definitely want to get its money back.

This amount makes it the second most expensive video game acquisition in history, after Tencent's $8.6 billion purchase of Finnish developer Supercell in 2016, and several times more than Microsoft's 2014 acquisition of Mojang ($2.5 billion). Of course, this is not surprising given ZeniMax's size and its long list of properties.

Also not surprising is that Microsoft is announcing this the day before Xbox Series X and Series S pre-orders begin. The consoles will go on sale November 10, but will be available for pre-order starting September 22.