Ives said that even though Xbox and gaming have proven successful in the past, Microsoft recognizes the need for a growth in revenue from consumers. minecraft will drive that along, in a briefing on Monday on the acquisition.
Phil Spencer, executive vice-president of Xbox Business at Microsoft Corp. He speaks at the Xbox One X unveil event in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A on June 11, 2017.
In separate statements Monday morning, Bethesda and Microsoft confirmed the terms of the agreement. The head of Xbox Phil Spencer said Bethesda was an early fan of Xbox Game Pass that has also been investing in cloud streaming of games.
"All of their incredible work will continue and grow , and we look forward to empowering them with the resources and support of Microsoft to scale their creative visions to more people in new ways," Spencer wrote in a Microsoft blog post announcing the deal.
Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda, said the trajectories of his company and Xbox "have been going hand in hand" since the two companies first launched.
Howard wrote that "This one is more than one screen or system," in a blog post on Bethesda's website.
The ZeniMax purchase is around $1.5 billion more than the $5.9 billion Activision Blizzard paid to acquire the parent company of Candy Crush, King Digital, in 2014 and more than three times higher than the $2.5 billion Microsoft paid to acquire Minecraft in the same year.
Van Dreunen stated that Microsoft's recent partnership with Microsoft is proof that Xbox is up to the challenge in the escalating platform battles. They are expected to gain pace in the coming months with the planned release by Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Sony's PS5.
Investors reacted positively to the news of Microsoft's acquisition on Monday, with Microsoft's stock price gaining three percentage points by the end of Monday afternoon.