Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition approved by the EU

The European Commission has given Microsoft and ZeniMax the go-ahead necessary for their merger.

The European Commission has officially approved Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax. Microsoft had asked for the EC's approval earlier in February, a process all mergers of this scale have to go through to clear any anti-trust concerns.

The European Commission's website reveals that the decision was made on March 5, which matches the initial deadline set by the regulator. The ruling to approve the deal also doesn't come with any conditions.

This puts Microsoft one step closer to closing the deal, and gaining control of several high-profile studios under the Bethesda/ZeniMax umbrella, including, of course, Skyrim and Fallout developer Bethesda Game Studios, Dishonored's Arkane, Wolfenstein teams at MachineGames and several more.

While Microsoft did confirm that existing PlayStation exclusivity deals, such as those made for Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo, will be honoured, it's not clear whether future games will continue to be multi-platform.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer previously hinted that they may be locked to Xbox/PC, saying that Microsoft could recoup its $7.5 billion investment without having to publish the company's games on non-Xbox platforms. But Bethesda Game Studios head Todd Howard also said it would be “hard to imagine” The Elder Scrolls 6 being a console exclusive, so time will tell.