Month: September 2020

Enlarge / Belgien, Brussel, Europaische Kommission, Berlaymont-Gebaude, Europa-Flaggen (credit: Westend61 | Getty Images)

The EU wants to arm itself with new powers to take on big technology companies, including the ability to force them to break up or sell some of their European operations if their market dominance is deemed to threaten the interests of customers and smaller rivals.

EU commissioner Thierry Breton told the Financial Times that the proposed remedies, which he said would only be used in extreme circumstances, also include the ability to exclude large tech groups from the single market altogether.

In addition, Brussels is considering a rating system that would allow the public and stakeholders to assess companies’ behavior in areas such as tax compliance and the speed with which they take down illegal content.

Enlarge / Just a few of the gaming franchises Microsoft now owns.

Major game franchises like Doom, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and more will soon be Microsoft properties. That's because the Xbox and Windows maker announced Monday morning it is buying the corporate parent of Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media.

"Like us, Bethesda are passionate believers in building a diverse array of creative experiences, in exploring new game franchises, and in telling stories in bold ways," Microsoft wrote in its announcement. "All of their great work will of course continue and grow and we look forward to empowering them with the resources and support of Microsoft to scale their creative visions to more players in new ways for you."

From many platforms to one?

Bethesda has confirmed an acquisition price tag of $7.5 billion. For context, that's three times the price Microsoft paid for Minecraft maker Mojang back in 2014. Mojang, of course, continued to be a multiplatform developer after its Microsoft acquisition, a decision that led to the odd sight of Microsoft publishing a Mario-themed "Mash-Up Pack" for Minecraft on Nintendo consoles.