A link to the EUR-Lex ( EUR-Lex - 52021M10001 - EN - EUR-Lex (europa.eu)) shows that they have found no issues with the merger of MS and Zenimax Media and that relvent 3rd parties have been notified that they have until the 15th (this was posted on the 5th) to submit any complains that would require further investigations.
Interestingly, A new subsidiary created by MS is called Vault and all the holding in Zenimax Media will be placed in this new subsidiary.
Someone please tell me if I got anything wrong or if this is fake but it seems legit.
This subsidiary is not under Xbox Game Studios subsidiary, which may hold up with what Xbox said about them retaining independent publishing rights and Xbox Games Studio and Vault will exist as separate publishing entities . This is similar to how Embracer Group has separate publishing groups like THQ Nordic and Saber with each being able to go out and function independently.
Thoughts?
XboxEra just posted on this and I missed it. Apologies.
Ill be curious to see what the new Vault does. Being made separate form Xbox games studios doesnât mean much because business will often do that and then ârestructureâ to fully incorporate them into existing subsidiaries. But companies like Embracer usually keep there heads out of the news like keeping large independent subsidiary like THQ Nordic and Saber which will go out and make there own acquisitions. The reason Embracer was so prevalent with the GearBox deal is because they are being added as there own independent subsidiary working with Embracer rather then being incorporated.
I didnât know this was already covered. I figured I had gotten some things wrong but I didnât see anyone talking about so I wanted bring it up so people could discuss and clarify. Iâve added the link to the main post.
If itâs not going to be seen as XGS be ready to see plenty of articles, videos and questions by media regarding whether these games stay in Xbox ecosystem or not, lol.
Just my guess, that is.
Which sure as hell isnât going to happen, PS5 games on Xbox. Xbox should not play the âgood guyâ here. They have a chance in a lifetime to really become big and great again, something they just werenât with Xbox One, donât mess that up.
Also, correct me Iâm wrong, didnât Pete Hines last year say they would still publish these games as Bethesda (Softworks)? Itâs anyoneâs guess right now. I guess it also canât be compared to any other of the acquisitions they made since Bethesda has many different studios.
Iâm still confident they know exclusivity is the only way theyâre going to eat into Playstationâs marketshare but then the XBL price hike happened and I thought to myself maybe the obvious aint so obvious over there in Redmond.
My guess is the âVaultâ just makes things easier. Everything is already in place at Zenimax, with regards to publishing games from the studios. The Vault allows MS to take over as owner, without interrupting the day to day running of the business. No need to be hiring & firing a whole bunch of people, etcâŚ
Thatâs my guess anyway.
What this could mean for exclusivity of the games I have no clue
On the other hand, say the plan has been to keep it all multiplatform all along, why even last year mention specifically that they will honor the deals like Ghostwire and Deathloop? At the same time there was also the âcase by case basisâ line. Meh, weâll probably find out soon. Unless they donât share the deets yet with us after the deal closes.
But I fail to see the point of making such a huge purchase, especially to improve GPâs appeal even more and yet keep it all multiplatform too. Would be crazy. Or they just arenât willing to take the risk, afraid locking these games into their ecosystem will seriously backfire. But I say, go for it, take that chance, see how many GP subs you receive.
Iâm only speculating here because at the end of the dayâŚ
This is my understanding from my experience in working at a large company who acquired new ones, for the immediate future its very much a case of status quo, no need to spend further money managing them to bring them up to quality, if they are doing that themselves. In time it would/could be more âfully mergedâ
Thats why Iâve been sceptical of them acquiring studios with âtroublesome elementsâ no-one wants to acquire a new company then have to sort out their HR nightmares.
I donât know either what it means with regards to exclusivity.
The way we should look at is the Vault and XGS are part of just Xbox and Pete Hines and Matt Booty runs them but both of them report to Phil, it just makes Matt Booty job easier thats the way I see it
I donât know why people are worried, Vault is just a way for MS to ensure Zenimax will retain its functionality and to avoid mass layoffs. At the end of the day, they still have to report to Phil Spencer. Just that Bethesda will become a second publishing brand under Xbox, like XGS.
It is just a case that people do not fully understand the nuances of the corporate legal process.
As @Sikamikanico pointed at through a lawyer, the âvaultâ is just the legal means whereby MS keeps Zenimax as a separate entity within the Xbox division and way back in December @Klobrille made that very handy chart as to how Zenimax will function within Microsoft, so it will still function semi-autonomously within the Xbox division, but Pete Hines will now report to Phil Spencer rather than the board of Zenimax as he does atm.
Yeah that makes a lot of sense. And no layoffs is only a good thing! At first I tried comparing it to Obsidian, NT and so on, but a comparison canât be done since Obsidian and NT didnât come with a publisher, Bethesda does.
One can simply not compare this to the other acquisitions because this one is on another scale. It is an entire publisher and would probably almost doubles the employee count of MGS if it was fully integrated into it. They are a perfectly functioning business as well, so why rock the boat when all Xbox wants is games from them.
