Pre-orders for the Xbox Series X begin tomorrow, but it seems Microsoft didn't want fans to wait that long for the big news: the Xbox maker just announced that it has acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. In effect, Microsoft will own the rights to "The Elder Scrolls," "Doom," "Wolfenstein," "Dishonored," and perhaps most importantly, the upcoming sci-fi RPG "Starfield."

The information comes from a lengthy post on the Xbox Wire blog by Xbox head Phil Spencer himself. There, you can find a lot of information about the series that Bethesda has produced over the years, and that Spencer has worked closely with Bethesda staff before. But the conclusion is clear: Microsoft currently owns the rights to many of the most popular franchises in modern gaming. However, it is less clear how (or if) these franchises will or will not be available on competing consoles in the future, especially Sony's PS5.

First, it must be pointed out that while Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda is certainly big news, this blog post does not indicate any immediate next steps: as Bloomberg reports, the $7.5 billion deal is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2021, and the company is expected to be completed by the second quarter. Game production is a big and unwieldy beast, and what has been in development for some time will probably continue as before. Bethesda's next big title and PS5 launch exclusive, "Deathloop," will probably be available on PS5 as well; "The Ancient Gods," the big single-player DLC for "Doom Eternal," will probably be available on all platforms as it has

Further, the "Doom Eternal" DLC will probably be available on PS5.

What is even more curious is what will happen to Bethesda's currently unannounced or unspecified projects: will the next installment of "Elder Scrolls" or "Starfield" be exclusive to Xbox consoles? Furthermore, at what point will Bethesda stop supporting its titles on PS4 and Switch? Remember, it's not necessarily unprecedented for a Microsoft-owned franchise to receive continued support on other platforms; "Minecraft" is a prime example.

But what is comforting, at least for PC gamers, is that Bethesda's franchises will likely continue to be offered on the PC as they have in the past. Microsoft has committed to releasing all major Xbox games on the PC as well, and has recently added some very popular titles (such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection) to Steam to show that it is serious. For a long time, Bethesda has been synonymous with PC gaming, and Microsoft is probably not going to change that. Future Bethesda titles will also be available on Xbox Game Pass from day one.

Indeed, gamers who owned the original Xbox may remember that this is not the first time Bethesda has signed an unprecedented deal with Microsoft: when The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind debuted on the Xbox, it was a tradition It represented a major departure from the Until then, the Elder Scrolls series had been released exclusively on PC, at least in part because it was not common practice to support such large and complex titles on consoles. Later, the Elder Scrolls games were also released on Sony consoles (and just about every other console imaginable), but the collaboration with Microsoft really began.

For now, we can say that Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda and the company's existing plans will probably not change in the near future. After that, Xbox could have some very interesting exclusive franchises.

UPDATE: A tweet from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reveals that all future Bethesda games will be released on Xbox and PC, but that releases on other consoles will be "case by case."