Matt Firor, President at ZeniMax Online Studios LLC, speaks about 'The Elder Scrolls Online, Elsweyr' during the Bethesda E3 Showcase at The Shrine Auditorium on June 09, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Microsoft is buying the company behind popular video games The Elder Scrolls, Doom, and Fallout.
The software giant said Monday that it is paying $7.5 billion for ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks.
Microsoft said it is buying Bethesda in part to beef up its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service, which it says has over 15 million subscribers.
Bethesda games, such as Starfield, which is currently in development, will launch on Xbox Game Pass the same day they launch on Xbox or computers, Microsoft said.
Microsoft has new consoles debuting on Nov. 10: the Xbox Series X and the stripped down Series S version. It will be competing against Sony's new PlayStation 5 console.
R.W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said the deal is part of a wider industry trend of consolidation. Microsoft already owns studios that make popular games including Minecraft and the Halo franchise.
"We believe the deal checks a lot of boxes for Microsoft, such as strengthening the Xbox/Games division product portfolio as competition increases, boosting the profile of Xbox subscription services, and providing more content for the company’s cloud gaming initiatives," he wrote in an investor note.
Microsoft Corp., which is based in Redmond, Washington, expects the deal to close in the second half of fiscal 2021.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
