Microsoft moves one step closer to finalizing its Bethesda acquisition

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Purchase is approved by the SEC

Fallout's famous Please Stand By screenholder
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda has been approved by The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

While it's not the final hurdle for Microsoft to clear - the acquisition still has to be approved by the European Commission - the "Notice of Effectiveness" filed Stateside earlier this week does bring the takeover one step closer to completion.

Microsoft is still awaiting the judgment of the European Commission, however, and the provisional deadline for antitrust regulators to clear the deal and ensure it doesn't break the rules around industry competition - March 5 - has passed without public comment.

Legal documents stated that Microsoft will acquire "sole control of the whole of Zenimax" and that process will be accomplished via "a newly created Microsoft subsidiary ('Vault')" which "will be merged with and into Zenimax".

In a staff Q&A session Google Stadia’s general manager Phil Harrison reportedly “pointed specifically to Microsoft’s buying spree and planned acquisition of Bethesda Software later this year as one of the factors that had made Google decide to close the book on original game development".” This, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and the “rising costs of game development” were apparently also a factor in the decision.

Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.