Yikes. Microsoft got outplayed on pricing and sensing another rout, they went and asked daddy to bail them out.
But you know what? Bethesa is a company that nearly all of its IP have been waning save for Doom; Elder Scrolls gets released like once every decade and legacy issues of their engine are more ancient, so in a way their sale makes sense, this is not a thriving company, but a struggling one. I have no doubt MS will be trying to leverage those IP more now but 'more' is not necessarily the solution, extensive changes and overhauls are. And I don't think Microsoft can steward a huge publisher such as this that needed to retool so much. Microsoft learned to be 'hands off' but they need to be very hands on in this case, and that is going to prove challenging for them.
Regardless, If they had bought some limited exclusivity, I would certainly buy an Xbox to play it, but I can't support this at all. This is a desperate move from them that makes some of their previous purchases and even some of their games in development look redundant; you have to wonder about people's jobs here. I really don't think Microsoft can successfully manage all these IP/Studios, nor do they have intention to. I'm willing to bet this blows up in their face and these IP will just continually shrink in value and waste away, and years from now only a very small, leaned out version of Bethesda remains that focuses on GAAS. Sad to say, but it would be best for the industry if they end up like another Rare. Shockingly, the pro-consumer cries of yore are deafeningly silent now.