here's a summary of what i'm saying, in the interest of clarity:
1.) i like fallout a lot, i am what you might call a fallout fanboy, and i want to see that IP thrive, obviously
2.) there are numerous examples, including ones involving this specific corporation, of major publishers buying beloved dev studios and everything going to shit
3.) it seems like it would be super hard to argue that zenimax was in dire financial straits, and it would be virtually impossible to argue that it was in PANIC SELL mode
4.) microsoft is paying $7.5 billion for zenimax, and there has to be *some level* of expectations of return on investment from microsoft's perspective
5.) we can disagree about how those expectations will manifest, but i would again point to what happened when rare's early xb360 work underperformed sales targets
6.) sure, bethesda's games are surer bets than the new IPs rare was working on, but that's where i would again point to activision's treatment of blizzard as they were putting out successful stuff from their IPs
7.) ultimately, i think this is only a slam dunk from a consumer quality perspective if you're willing to ignore real world examples of similar acquisitions
i hope the deal works! obviously, because i like fallout! as a PC gamer, i'm glad that microsoft's purchase means i'll still be able to play the games. i'm also encouraged by the fact that in recent years microsoft *seems* to be putting a premium on a.) acquiring talented dev studios and b.) giving them time to do their things. but man, i'm nervous, and i just don't know how that philosophy scales to a $7.5 billion purchase