Perkins Coie Represented Microsoft in $7.5B Gaming Acquisition of ZeniMax Media

SEATTLE (March 10, 2021) - Perkins Coie is pleased to have represented Microsoft Corporation in its $7.5 billion acquisition of interactive gaming company ZeniMax Media, Inc. The transaction closed on March 9, 2021 following regulatory approvals.

Perkins Coie acted as Microsoft's primary game and intellectual property counsel on the transaction. ZeniMax Media, the parent company of several of the most iconic game studios including Bethesda Softworks, id Software, Arkane Studios, MachineGames, and Alpha Dog Games, is one of the world's largest, privately held game developers and publishers. The deal saw Microsoft's Xbox division take ownership of Bethesda Softworks' best-selling gaming franchises, including The Elder Scrolls, Doom, and Fallout, among others. With Zenimax Media now part of Xbox, Microsoft has increased its first-party development resources from 15 studios to 23 studios.

The Perkins Coie team was led by Seattle partner Kirk Soderquist and Chicago partner Gilbert Villaflor, and also included partners Don Karl and Nicole Dunham, associates Stefan Blum, Samuel Boro, Martin Howard, Lisa Manrique, Megan Von Borstel, D. Sean West, and Christopher Wieman, and senior paralegal Colin MacGregor.

The transaction will significantly expand Microsoft's game business and the Perkins Coie team assisted Microsoft in evaluating ZeniMax Media's global game studios.

Perkins Coie has successfully represented Microsoft in numerous prior gaming acquisitions, including most recently the acquisition of Double Fine Productions, InXile Entertainment, Obsidian Entertainment, and its $2.5 billion acquisition of Mojang, the creator of the popular "Minecraft" video game franchise, in 2014.