Bethesda Softworks and its related studios have been bought by Microsoft for $7.5 billion (£5.85 billion).

Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media - the parent company of Bethesda, id Software, Arkane, and the other groundbreaking studios behind games such as Skyrim, Fallout, Doom, Dishonored, and the forthcoming Deathloop.

What this means for platform exclusitivity is unclear at present, but other developers under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella have co-produced games for PlayStation and Nintendo consoles in the past. The Outer Worlds by Obsidian was published across Xbox One, PS4 and Switch, for example (although Obsidian was purchased after those formats were announced).

With Deathloop having been such a big part of the recent PlayStation Showcase, it would certainly be strange if it was turned into an Xbox/Windows 10 exclusive now.

One thing we do know for sure is that all games from Bethesda Softworks and the other studios in the acquisition will be added to Xbox Game Pass as soon as possible. Many are available to members already, of course.

The buyout announcement comes a day before the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S pre-orders go live - which is no coincidence. It will also likely silent many who have been saying that Xbox doesn't have the best games coming up.