Microsoft's purchase of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media has been given the thumbs up by the European Commission.

The Verge reports that on Friday, March 5th, the EU gave an Art. 6(1)(b) ruling on the acquisition, which translated into English means that the European government doesn't think there's any reason to stop the deal.

Microsoft announced in September that it planned to acquire ZeniMax for $7.5 billion.

"All of our work, and the foundation of our relationship with you, starts with a commitment to deliver a breadth of amazing games to discover and play on Xbox," Microsoft games boss Spencer said at the time.

"Over the last few weeks, we’ve been excited to share more detail on important elements of a plan we’ve been building towards for years. A plan that is the fulfilment of a promise, to you the Xbox player, to deliver the most performant, immersive and compatible next-generation gaming experiences, and the freedom to play blockbuster games with your friends, anytime, anywhere. Today is a landmark step in our journey together and I’m incredibly energised by what this step means for Xbox."

It remains to be seen what this deal actually means for games from Bethesda and co. CFO Tim Stuart has said that these titles need to be "first or better" on Xbox platforms.

The acquisition sees Xbox Game Studios grow to 23 first-party developers.