550°

Microsoft Plans To Merge ZeniMax Into A New Subsidiary Called 'Vault'

An EU Law document has revealed that Microsoft plans to merge ZeniMax into a new subsidiary called Vault.

rlow11603d ago

Does that translate to, "Vault of Money"???

Godmars2901602d ago

More like "pit of money" if the best they do from now on is Fallout 76.

MadLad1602d ago

Guess you forgot about every single release they made since Morrowind in 2002. Not to mention all of the other award winning devs they got in the acquisition.

King_Noctis1602d ago Show
demonseye1602d ago Show
Godmars2901602d ago Show
King_Noctis1602d ago Show
demonseye1602d ago Show
Atom6661602d ago

As well as Fallout 76 sold, it kind of was a pit (empty game) full of money.

But you can't ignore the revenue their big two generate. Before Cyberpunk, I believe Fallout 4 generated the most $$$ at launch than any game this gen. ESO actually has really high sub numbers. And games like Doom continue to do well.

Also, Days Gone did hit with a lot of bugs. It's why its score is way lower than it should be. Doesn't compare to a ES or Fallout, but let's not act like everyone is perfect except for those top few Sony titles.

Not sure how MS has a rep for bugs though? Online launch issues? Well that's been true of everyone (Sony included).

Godmars2901602d ago Show
S2Killinit1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

I think its a fitting name for cannabilizing the industry by buying multiplatform developers, making them exclusive to one console, then putting their games behind the paywall.

Vault, yep, that’s pretty much accurate.

Atom6661602d ago Show
+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 1602d ago
1602d ago
Orchard1602d ago

"puts the future of Bethesda releases on PS5 still largely up in the air"

Realistically, why would anyone genuinely believe Microsoft spent 7.5bn on this to release the games on PlayStation? The value is clearly in exclusivity.

Nyxus1602d ago

Because they can make more money that way. Same as they're doing with Minecraft. Not saying it's a guarantee, but it's not impossible either.

Sonyslave31602d ago

Dude xbox making money good money and plus ms already made enough cash to buy zenimax twice lol they dont need playstation or nintendo.

Nyxus1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

They may not need it but they want money right? Also, if they don't need the other platforms, why is Minecraft multiplatform?

Then there's also this: https://arstechnica.com/gam...

gamer78041602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

Minecraft was pre existing, I highly doubt new Bethesda games will come to PlayStation, maybe ESO will stay like Minecraft did

Tedakin1602d ago

Sony can "make more money" if they put their games on PC and Xbox too. Sony only supports Sony. Xbox supports Xbox, Windows and Steam, and even android with gamepass. Their reach is over 80% of the gaming market.

LucasRuinedChildhood1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

@Nyxus

You provided a good link. Bethesda's games being multiplatform would be the most ideal outcome, and their language indicates something close to this unless they're just all lying to make the acquisition easier to approve.

Microsoft's ultimate goal is for GamePass to be the Netflix of gaming and you need enough studios to create regular content for a service like that. That's the main reason they're buying Bethesda (loads of good studios and varied IPs, lots of good content). That's a vision that the higher ups were able to get behind, and that's why the Xbox division was given so much more money for this investment than the division currently justifies (they publicly stated in the past that Xbox was not a core MS business). Everything else is secondary unless it hinders GamesPass.

Bethesda's games all coming to GamePass and having their games be full price and/or come later on PlayStation incentivizes people to subscribe to GamePass and opt for an Xbox while allowing MS to make large profits from other audiences. It seems like a good predicament for MS.

porkChop1602d ago

MS, Sony, and Nintendo could all make more money by releasing their games on rival platforms. That doesn't mean anything.

The Bethesda buyout was unprecedented. It was a power move, a major play. You don't spend that kind of money just to keep the games multiplatform, because that doesn't bolster your own platforms in any way.

Notellin1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

They make more money by luring people into the ecosystem. PC and Xbox will bring plenty of sales.

Why wouldn't Nintendo and Sony release their games on other platforms if it was all about games sold?

majiebeast1602d ago Show
DOMination-1602d ago

I always read this comment about making more money if it is released on competing consoles but if that was the case, why don't Microsoft and Sony make all their games multiplatform? I don't think it's this simplistic.

I don't know the answer, but I would speculate that there is great value in keeping products exclusive to your ecosystem. By the time any Bethesda games are released, the margin in the hardware sales should be there to make up some of the lost sales in software - and for the stubborn few who refuse to buy Xbox at any cost but will play on PC - many of them will end up subscribing to gamepass in some form to play it.

Zeref1602d ago

Well they would make more money if Halo was on PS5 as well.
Why is God of War not on Xbox? They'd make more money as well.

🤦🏾‍♂️

wiz71911602d ago

I mean Minecraft was already multi platform before Microsoft purchased Mojang. It would of been a disaster if they removed Minecraft from other consoles it was already on.

RazzerRedux1602d ago

"Minecraft was pre existing, "

Minecraft Dungeons wasn't.

343_Guilty_Spark1602d ago

The same argument could be used for all exclusives.

RazzerRedux1601d ago

"The same argument could be used for all exclusives."

Not all exclusives started out trying to justify a $7.5 billion price tag.

+ Show (11) more repliesLast reply 1601d ago
Destiny10801602d ago

losing 70% of your sales is not good for any company

but if there's one company that could do it, its microsoft

gamer78041602d ago

If they put the games day one in Xbox gamespass then It would be worth it for MS to get people to come to Xbox and subscribe to gamespass

Neonridr1602d ago

the company won't care because they aren't funding development anymore.

Orchard1602d ago

Microsoft just made two Bethesda’s in profit in 3 months. I don’t think they’re worried about cutting other platforms.

CJQNSNYC1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

70%? You think Xbox and PC only account for 30% of Bethesda's sales? I think you've grossly underestimated how popular Bethesda's games are on Steam and Xbox.

Tedakin1602d ago

They release their games on Steam and Windows. MS's reach is over 80% of the gaming market. So more like 18%, but it will drive people to play on Xbox or PC, so they'll make up a lot of that.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1602d ago
Sonyslave31602d ago

I know right it going to be 99% xbox/pc smh. The only games i can see coming to switch or ps5 is the mmo's.

Darkborn1602d ago

Yeah, Microsoft did, not Xbox. Xbox is basically a money pit.

Sonyslave31602d ago

No actually xbox is making good money did you read ms report xbox is making profits.

Here im going to let matty and a hardcore ps fan explain

Yongera
https://m.youtube.com/watch...

MrMattyPlays
https://m.youtube.com/watch...

Darkborn1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

So they made over the amount they just spent on zenimax? That would be profit. And I mean Xbox, not Microsoft that makes billions all the time.

AngelicIceDiamond1602d ago

That's why Phil used MS and not Xbox division. MS spent 7.5b and made back 15b back.

Darkborn1602d ago

Exactly, it's a money pit. I remember investors of Microsoft were wondering a few years ago where their return was with Xbox. They probably barely made their investment in mojang, and all the other recent studios back and now they go and spend way more before they get a return. The guys in suits might get pissed pretty soon unless they they get paid.

Orchard1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

@Darkborn irrelevant really. Xbox is profitable but Sony also make money from non-PlayStation products, just not as much as Microsoft overall.

So yes, Microsoft are a more successful corporation than Sony and can therefore afford things like Bethesda.

No one cares how Xbox or PlayStation are doing - they care how Microsoft and Sony are doing. You can’t buy Xbox or PlayStation stocks.

As for the “guys in suits getting annoyed”... I doubt they’re annoyed. Microsoft is now one of the most valuable companies, over 15x that of Sony and is trending towards 2 trillion dollars value.

waverider1602d ago

Thats what they dont understand. Microsoft did. The Gaming division is another thing.

Darkborn1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

The thing you guys don't seem to understand is everytime the investors get reports, it's almost always negative for Xbox. Eventually they might just shut it down. Look at Google stadia. Google could go buy Sony and Microsoft right now in one day and they just shut down stadia gaming studios. Also, look at Amazon. Another huge company that could buy basically a bunch of huge publishers and it wouldn't even be what they pay in taxes (or don't). They are shutting down games and probably going quietly into the night.

Orchard1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

@Darkborn Almost always negative? Please link one. I went through earnings reports for the last two years and didn’t find any negative Xbox ones.

Also Google could go buy Microsoft? What? Microsoft are valued higher than Google right now - over 400bn higher.

Fanboys have claimed MS will kill Xbox for multiple generations now and yet here we are with new consoles and Microsoft investing more dollars in gaming than ever, and far more than Sony too. Maybe Sony will shut PlayStation down!?

Darkborn1602d ago

Well this was last year. A report saying earnings went down is not positive. I will say it does say that the expansion of game pass is helping Microsoft out though and it's true. Offering free games for a cheap subscription is a good thing for consumers but a bad thing for productivity.

https://www.siliconrepublic...

Orchard1601d ago

Right... so it made less money one of the last 8 quarters. But was still profitable. I’m sure investors would be fine with that - they would only care if it was in the red/negative.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 1601d ago
Fluttershy771602d ago

Exclusives are great, but at the time Minecraft wouldn't have changed by itself the destiny of Xbox One... the game became super popular because it launched in every single platform... it's an all platform friendly game.
Look at the best fighting game of the last decade Killer Instinct... A master piece that is... dead, a commercial failure (the people that made that game were forced to vanish, they are working in Amazon Games or something. I think KI would have been way more popular if it launched on Playstation too, even the switch.
Also there are two ways of having exclusives:
1) Developing and taking risks with unknown IPs (it could be great or could be a failure)
2) Bulling your way around with money

LucasRuinedChildhood1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

Exclusivity to boost console sales is definitely not the reason this purchase was approved. The numbers don't add up.

The PS4 was the most profitable console in gaming history ( https://www.gamesradar.com/... ) and the PS division still doesn't have the money to buy Bethesda. The PS division itself made $1.6 billion in profit in 2018, for example. Even if MS somehow won the console war with 100 million Xbox consoles sold, ***this $7.5 billion acquisition would eat beyond an entire console generation worth of profits by itself***.

They did it because want high subscription numbers for GamePass (they want it to be the Netflix of gaming and to get a foothold), and they need studios to make content for the service. Their Bethesda games being full price on PlayStation and potentially first on Xbox would work out very well for them.

PapaBop1602d ago

Not sure what the most updated statistics are but I can give you over 114m (PS4 consoles sold) reasons why

waverider1602d ago

Hundreds of millions on PS consoles where all sell much more then on xbox consoles, because their marketshare is much much bigger.

moomoo3191602d ago

They will strategically lock certain exclusives to xbox or gamepass, but definitely not every bethesda game they release.

JL29301601d ago

Because Sony need all the games they can get, they only produce interactive movies.

S2Killinit1601d ago

MS is pretending that these developers may release on other consoles to prevent any possible backlash they may receive for cannibalizing the industry. Then they will also be able to announce the exclusivity as a “surprise” for the shock effect. You can mark my words here. The games will be MS exclusives. This is how MS behaves. Always has.

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 1601d ago
BrainSyphoned1602d ago

Because it will just be a vault of games from when Bethesda was worth something.

Sitdown1602d ago

Come on, you can do better than that.

BrainSyphoned1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

My thoughts exactly on the name. I'm sure someone tried to 76 it but was told "it just works"

King_Noctis1602d ago (Edited 1602d ago )

Didn’t Bethesda literally published Doom Eternal last year? Are you saying Doom Eternal worth nothing?

Tedakin1602d ago

Doom Eternal was a Bethesda game, and one of the best games of the last several years.

Vizigoth041602d ago

Nothing hardly ever comes out of a vault anyway so that’s cool.

fitofficial1602d ago

TES VI: Minecraft Edition Day One Starter Pack

phoenixwing1602d ago

Wouldn't surprise me with how blocky the other elder scrolls have been

Show all comments (84)
150°

Xbox Mass layoffs Are Expected To Hit On July 2, 2025

The previously rumored mass layoffs at Xbox are expected to happen on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, according to a new rumor.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
9h ago
lukasmain5h ago(Edited 4h ago)

They will have fired close to 20,000 people all up after this round of lay-offs coming, since the ABK deal announcement in January 2022. Shocking really

January 2023:
Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees, which was a significant workforce reduction.

January 2024:
Approximately 1,900 gaming employees were laid off following the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

May 2025:
Microsoft announced a further 6,000 layoffs as part of an organizational shift.

June 2025:
Additional layoffs, including 650 in the gaming business, focused on corporate and support functions

3h agoReplies(2)
Obscure_Observer3h ago

"They will have fired close to 20,000 people all up after this round of lay-offs coming, since the ABK deal announcement in January 2022. Shocking really"

It's not that shocking considering these numbers aren't just Xbox numbers as you're deliberately trying to make it seem for some reason.

Interestingly, another no shocking fact is that whenever Microsoft releases its quarterly earnings reports, you're quick to point out that those numbers aren't exclusive to Xbox. Yeah... go figure.

Ganif1h ago

They also fired around 2500 people across Microsoft's gaming divisions and Zenimax shortly after buying it, and before they closed down 4 studios including Arkane and Tango.

I remember Satya boasting about how compassionate he was for splitting the list 50/50 across the two companies.

1h ago
Hereandthere2h ago

Let's hope its not as bad as socials are making it, good luck to those that unfortunately lose their jobs.

2h ago
Lightning771h ago

Could be not as bad could be horrible. But it's Ms so I'm expecting the absolute worst.

-Foxtrot1h ago

Sometimes I feel like they brought in Sarah to take the heat away from Phil.

Phil has always stuck his nose into everything Xbox related when it's something positive or at least neutral but as soon as they went the multiplatform root he's stood back and let Sarah do most of the talking in terms of PR. Now they are doing the same with layoffs.

The person who should be let go is Phil himself.

240°

‘I think Xbox hardware is dead’, says Microsoft gaming veteran

One of the founding members of the Xbox team has questioned Microsoft’s multiplatform gaming strategy, and said they believe the Xbox hardware business is effectively “dead"

Read Full Story >>
videogameschronicle.com
2d ago Replies(3)
Goodguy012d ago

Think that rumor that they'll still make a new console but at a profit at $1000 will be true though. The series consoles will remain their cheap alternative throughout next gen I would say. Keep in mind that game pass and pretty much going 3rd party is their main focus. They want to bring xbox everywhere.

2d ago
GamerRN1d 5h ago

If they don't maintain some kind of console presence, I think they will lose gamepass subscribers and just become a 3rd party publisher who eventually sells everything off

Cacabunga1d 4h ago

Xbox games are releasing on all platforms. Who needs this hardware? PS or PC is all you need

Flewid6381d 3h ago

I've never owned an Xbox in my life and I have GamePass.

thorstein1d 2h ago

The only Xbox I owned was the 360. I have gamepass for my PC.

GamerRN21h ago

Majority of Gamepass users are currently on console...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 21h ago
crazyCoconuts1d 3h ago

Even if they could get it down to $800 for a box that can run with comparable performance to a PS6 (at, say $200 cheaper) the population of people willing to buy such a thing would be so limited.
It would be the worst of both worlds.

1d 23h ago
Futureshark1d 14h ago

A slow, painful and public death too.

Show all comments (66)
190°

While Layoffs Hit the Industry, Nintendo Retains 98% of Staff Including 78 With Disabilities

TNS: Based on its most recent ESG data, Nintendo boasts a remarkably low staff turnover rate of just 1.9%, with virtually no reported layoffs.

Read Full Story >>
thenerdstash.com
Jin_Sakai2d ago

Because Nintendo makes great games.

Yesyes2d ago

It’s unreal that people are downvoting this when they consistently have the best scoring games on metacritic.

2d ago
rlow12d ago

Well it doesn’t surprise me. As much money as they make and how they value their employees. It’s a great company in that regard.

2d ago Replies(1)
drivxr2d ago

Well, when your games remain full price many years after release.

And you make profit off of outdated hardware.

I would be shocked if they couldn't afford to retain their staff.

lodossrage2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I didn't want to say anything but drivxr is right.

Nintendo always sells at a profit because they purposely use tech that's always 5 or more years behind. And it's also true their games hardly ever get price decreases.

Don't get me wrong, it's great they kept most of their workforce, but making a point to have your tech specs behind everyone else affords that luxury.

Darkegg2d ago

I don’t think it’s their purpose to use old tech. It’s their purpose to make value of software and know their value. Nobody makes games like them that’s for sure. I just don’t appreciate their customer unfriendly policy.

It’s not impossible to take their status. Companies need to have a selection of 8-bit and 16-bit. Now imagine a split screen for 8 player game for SNES Mario kart and selling at $9.99. The problem is that it doesn’t make profit. So many companies won’t invest in “old” technology. Everyone guns for triple AAA modern technology software but honestly we can enjoy modernized 16-bit creative ideas that allows 8-player mayhem. It’s a pipe dream, possible but impossible.

Shane Kim2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

If they ended up kicking people out after all of that stated above, it would be truly shameful.

DivineHand1252d ago

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla and Meta are all trillion dollar companies yet they are laying people off in large numbers.

I believe the reason Nintendo layoffs off less workers may be a result of their culture. It seems Japanese companies believe in giving their workers long term or life long employment opportunities and will exhaust all options before laying off workers. This is something we don't see much of in the west unfortunately.

Rdeal2d ago

might be something to do with the fact all those companies hire more than 20x the employees than Nintendo

LoveSpuds2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

What the hell are you talking about? It has nothing to do with how profitable they are. Its completely cultural, MS and Sony make stacks of cash and still lay folks off. Nintendo chose not to lay off staff for the same reason their execs took pay cuts to increase staff pay instead; because they value their staff and view them as colleagues, and respect them as such.

If Sony weren't so US centric I fancy they'd fare better too, they should get shot of US and European leadership and go back to when Japanese execs were running the show if you ask me!

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