One of the biggest video game events of 2020 was Xbox acquiring Bethesda in a massive buyout last September. As a result of the deal, Microsoft now owns studios linked to Zenimax Media such as id Software, Machine Games, Tango Gameworks, and Arkane Studios.
Needless to say, this deal is a massive shakeup for the video game industry as a whole, especially as new details surrounding the deal continues to come to light. Now, Xbox has released a video celebrating Bethesda joining the Xbox family of games, as the deal was officially finalized a few days ago.
The video in question is a fun mash-up of many iconic Xbox properties celebrating a variety of Bethesda properties joining Xbox. The video begins with the crew from Gears of War wondering what's going on as a screen shows clips from Skyrim, Dishonored 2, and Fallout 4. Finally, the camera zooms in on Kait Diaz of Gears of War 4 and 5 who says "They're here." The trailer's tone then shifts to an upbeat celebration, backed by musical artist The Weeknd's hit single "Blinding Lights." From there on, the trailer smash-cuts to different Bethesda games coming to Xbox.
The trailer shows footage of games like Doom, Doom Eternal, Fallout 4, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, Dishonored, and many more. Unlike Bethesda's own celebration video, which looked back on Bethesda's past while celebrating what's to come, Xbox's celebration video looks firmly to the future. The video itself is just under two minutes, and is a fun watch with great editing behind it that embraces a variety of different memes surrounding both Bethesda and Xbox.
While the video serves as a celebration of Xbox's acquisition on its face, the trailer also serves as a nifty advertisement for Xbox Game Pass. Nearly all of these Bethesda titles will be on Game Pass, which the trailer notes at the very end of the video. It goes without saying, but this is going to be a huge boon for Xbox Game Pass owners, who are getting 20 amazing games coming to the service today on March 12. Even older Bethesda titles such as Oblivion and Morrowind will be available on Game Pass, alongside Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas.
While this is great news for Xbox gamers, the full scope of what the buyout entails is slowly but surely coming to light. Recently, Phil Spencer has clarified that the Bethesda acquisition involved getting exclusives for both Xbox Game Pass and Xbox consoles. However, those titles that previously announced that they were headed to other consoles will still be available there, such as Deathloop on PS5. For now, the video serves as a fun celebration of Microsoft's deal that shows a pretty bright future for Xbox gamers who are fans of the games Bethesda makes.