Sacred Symbols+, Episode LX: Bethesda's Big Bomb (Patreon)

Let's come out swinging: Microsoft's purchase of ZeniMax (and therefore Xbox's acquisition of Bethesda, and all that entails) is the single biggest deal in the history of the video game industry. At a price of $7.5 billion -- $3.5 billion more than Disney paid for Star Wars, and a staggering $7.27 billion more than Sony paid for Insomniac -- it's exceedingly rare to see that kind of money being thrown around. But above and beyond the monetary cost, the addition of eight new teams to Xbox's first party stable (along with dozens of IP) is a seismic event that frankly just doesn't happen. It reads like a forum rumor. Microsoft owns Bethesda Game Studios, now. It owns id Software and its vaunted id Tech. It owns Arkane, Machinegames, and Tango. It's now the holder of licenses from Fallout and The Elder Scrolls to Doom and Wolfenstein. Needless to say, Sony better have its eyes stretched wide open.