The StunLock

When I think of Disney, I think of two things: The things they were known for prior to buying the Star Wars franchise, and the things they are known for after.

Prior to that famous purchase, Disney was associated almost exclusively with children. Post-Star Wars, they are now associated with children and adult children. Strictly speaking, their films and television shows, in the Star Wars universe, almost by design, are not well received and the company’s reputation has been tarnished, though not irreparably, I’m sure we’ll come to find.

Enter Microsoft

Microsoft: computer stuff, right? Known primarily for its globally essential operating system, Windows, Microsoft is a software company first and foremost. It features a number of hardware products for sale, such as the most obvious series of Xbox consoles and accessories, but in general, one associates Microsoft with reliable software.

As it happens, video games are, indeed, software. Microsoft has made a number of waves in the gaming news cycle since its acquisition of ZeniMax Media in late 2020. ZeniMax Media being the parent company of various studios, notably Bethesda Game Studios, responsible for the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. First, the acquisition itself caused quite a stir. Then, some years later, Microsoft gutted a number of the developers under ZeniMax, some respected, others not so.

There was also Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, the company responsible, most notably, for the Activision portion of the Call of Duty franchise and the World of Warcraft MMO. This means that the games associated with Microsoft’s ownership include Starfield, World of Warcraft, the yet unreleased TES 6, and modern Call of Duty games. There’s also, to some note, Sea of Thieves by Rare, among a litter of other smaller titles, all with a widely different range of success.

Bluntly, the fact that Microsoft’s games division has succeeded about as much as it’s faltered (if not less so) does not incur a sense of confidence in its future. This reality mirrors a great deal of Disney’s ongoing content-spew post-StarWars acquisition.

Regardless of how much Microsoft actually has to do with Bethesda Game Studio’s work, it will be judged for its performance on the market. Starfield was underwhelming, to say the least. The Elder Scrolls 6, which I consider to be the title that will define the future for Bethesda Game Studios and something I hold little confidence in, will make or break public perception of Microsoft’s ownership in ZeniMax Media, which is already shaken thanks to the aforementioned studio gutting.

I foresee another two decades of Bethesda flops, burned forward by Microsoft’s attempt to profit as much as possible from the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series, before independent developers begin to take over the RPG market, ultimately consolidating into a new powerhouse studio that begins the process anew.

When it comes to Disney, I can predict a similar trend: Content overload until ultimate failure.

GLHF,
-E