Be honest.... would you pay 7.5 billion for Bethesda? Especially with the shit they've had about their products in the last 3 years? Especially when Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 is probably like 4 years away?
Bethesda is a big company, but it seems Microsoft is in panic mode.
So when Sony pays for 3rd-party exclusivity deals, is that also panic mode? Or just good business? But when Microsoft does it, it's panic mode and bad business? But then if they didn't do it, you'd say they weren't serious about trying to compete because they're just relying on Gamepass and Sony's buying 3rd-party exclusives.
I seriously worry for the mental health of fanboys who need to do this level of mind gymnastics simply to scoff at a business deal. Jesus wept...
Hasn't sony the advantage they can buy japan publishers unlike ms ?
Japan isn't China; Western companies have purchased Japanese ones going way back. That's partly how SEGA formed, for example; it had a Hawaiian branch and a Japanese branch and they merged into one when David Rosen purchased the Japanese side.
Corporate mergers and buyouts still need to be reviewed and approved obviously, but Japan isn't anal about foreign companies buying shares or outright buying Japanese companies, at least the majority of them. Mainly because Japanese companies get to do the same to foreign companies. Fair is fair (now someone teach China this lesson x3).
EDIT: Also due to this very deal MS technically owns Tango who are a Japanese development studio, so if this urban myth were true they'd have been excluded from the purchase which I don't see being possible.