Todd Howard shared his thoughts on Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax. In a blog post published this afternoon, the Fallout and Elder Scrolls director said Microsoft would help the studio share "a deep belief in the fundamental power of games."

In the post, Howard described Microsoft as Bethesda's "longest and closest partner" and said that the Xbox and Bethesda paths "have gone hand in hand in many ways." Microsoft began developing its first console in 1999, the same year Bethesda joined ZeniMax Media. Howard says that he had doubts about putting his next game, "Morrowind," on a new platform, but eventually came around to agreeing with the Xbox team.

Howard then said, "Like our original partnership, this partnership is about more than one system or one screen," and that Bethesda and Microsoft "share a deep belief in the fundamental power of games, their ability to connect, empower, and bring joy Bethesda and Microsoft "share a deep belief in the fundamental power of games, in their ability to connect, empower and delight. And a belief that it should reach everyone."

The games that will come out of this partnership don't necessarily scream "Xbox exclusive." Microsoft is currently partnering with several major companies: as well as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Bethesda's upcoming IP Starfield, the company also owns the rights to Doom, Dishonored, Wolfenstein The company also owns the rights to "Doom," "Dishonored" and "Wolfenstein. What Howard is implying here, however, is that the future of these games will not be tied to a single platform. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Microsoft would pay $7.5 billion to share these franchises with PlayStation users, and with Xbox Series X pre-orders opening tomorrow, this could be a very timely acquisition.