Standing as one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the medium, Xbox officially bought ZeniMax Media earlier this year for a whopping $7.5 billion. It means the company now owns Bethesda's studios, including Doom developer id Software, Dishonored creators Arkane Studios, and the minds behind The Elder Scrolls and the modern Fallout titles, Bethesda Games Studios.
Such a massive acquisition is surely a cause for celebration over at Microsoft and Bethesda, and it seems the pair are looking to commemorate the event in the strangest way possible: commissioning hilarious "one-of-a-kind portraits" to publish on Twitter. The first of several pieces made its way onto Xbox's official account a couple of days ago, depicting an amusing riff on the now-iconic family portrait image used to promote Adam McKay's revered 2008 comedy, Step Brothers.
However, instead of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly posing for a classic family portrait, it instead features Master Chief and the Doom Slayer. The pair are wearing the characters' V-neck sweater and shirt combo, with the Chief leaning on the Slayer's shoulder. It's an entertaining rendition of Bethesda's newfound relationship with Xbox, with the publisher even replying to the image, commenting "did we just become family?" The official Halo Twitter account also responded, reminding Bethesda to not "touch [its] drums," referencing one of Step Brothers' most notorious jokes.
Xbox promises more portraits will be coming throughout the month, so players can assumedly expect to see more fun pop culture references used to celebrate the recent Bethesda and Xbox team-up. It's unsurprising that Microsoft is celebrating its latest first-party addition considering the publisher has already done a lot for the Xbox brand. Last month, Game Pass was bolstered with 20 iconic Bethesda releases, offering subscribers access to Dishonored, The Evil Within, Prey, Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and more.
Some of these games even got an FPS boost, meaning players on Xbox Series X could experience them in 60 frames per second. Going forward, Bethesda has a lot of major projects that are sure to be huge successes for both companies, whether that's MachineGames' exciting Indiana Jones project, ZeniMax Online's mysterious new IP, or Bethesda Game Studios' Starfield. The latter currently has cultivated a large fanbase online, the likes of which are clammoring to dive into Bethesda Game Studios' first original IP in years. It'll be interesting to see what Bethesda and Xbox will cook up in the years to come, especially with the new generation of consoles bringing more powerful hardware.