The Microsoft acquisition of ZeniMax Media, which includes Bethesda, id Software, MachineGames, and more, is obviously a very big deal. Yet since the announcement of the acquisition, Microsoft has kept largely quiet on the subject. That's with good reason, as the acquisition is still being closed. There are all manner of legal and regulatory hurdles to overcome first. That may be coming to an end soon, however, and early reporting indicates that Microsoft is planning to celebrate in a big way.
According to Jeff Grubb from a recent GamesBeat Decides podcast, the Xbox team is already planning an event to follow Microsoft's closing of the ZeniMax Media acquisition. This event is tentatively planned for around mid-March, subject to change depending on the acquisition process moving smoothly forward. The topic of the event would be a discussion regarding what the acquisition means for ZeniMax Media's studios and how they fit into the Microsoft and Xbox umbrellas.
Grubb says this would not necessarily be a massive event, at least to the degree of past recent Xbox events. However, it would be big enough to meet the moment. Fans understandably have big questions about how games will be made from Bethesda and ZeniMax Media's other teams. Simpler questions like whether games will be exclusive to Xbox platforms will hopefully also be answered. An event would be an opportunity to do all those things.
The event will also serve as a "milestone" for Xbox's build-up to E3, or at least whatever alternative E3 plans Xbox may opt to do in 2021. In 2020, Microsoft chose to do a series of events over the summer. It ultimately did fewer events than many expected following some early mistakes, but still did several. Microsoft's 2021 plans may be akin to that, only with the aim of less controversy. A ZeniMax event could fit into that nicely, considering how excited gamers are for Bethesda's games and other studios' titles.
The question Grubb doesn't answer is whether those ZeniMax games will make an appearance during the event. He points to questions regarding the company itself as being answered, but not its games. There's obviously a lot of interest in Starfield, Wolfenstein 3, and other games, but Microsoft may save them for bigger events later in the year.
What's important is that Microsoft isn't done addressing its ongoing acquisition of ZeniMax Media. Fans have a lot of questions and Microsoft wants to address them but is going to wait until the acquisition is complete. Stay tuned for more information in Microsoft plans in the weeks ahead.