ZeniMax Media (Bethesda) Acquires id Software (PR)

[-HP-]

I love irony, one day after I read the book Masters of Doom, which basically talks about the history of id, this happens... (great book btw, i totally recommend everyone to read it)

ZeniMax Media Acquires id Software

Brings together two of world’s best game studios

Library of powerhouse franchises will include DOOM, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls,

QUAKE, Wolfenstein and RAGE

June 24, 2009 (Rockville, MD) – ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, today announced it has completed the acquisition of legendary game studio, id Software, creators of world-renowned games such as DOOM, QUAKE, Wolfenstein, and its upcoming title, RAGE. The acquisition by ZeniMax Media joins together two of the finest, most respected videogame developers in the world, combining the first person shooter (FPS) expertise of id Software with acclaimed role playing game (RPG) developer Bethesda Game Studios – creators of the 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout 3, and the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda Softworks will publish the titles of id Software other than upcoming releases previously committed to other publishers.

Founded in 1991, id Software established itself as an industry leader with some of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed video games of all time. id Software created the original first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, and subsequently set new standards in the genre with the blockbuster releases of its DOOM and QUAKE titles. In addition, id Software developed cutting edge, proprietary technology with the id Tech engine which powers many notable FPS titles, and continues to make great advances in game technology under the direction of John Carmack, one of the country’s technology leaders and a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame.

Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, commented on the transaction: “This was a unique opportunity to team with a smart, sophisticated publisher like Bethesda Softworks where the interests of the studio and the publisher will be fully aligned in the development and marketing of our titles. In addition, we will now have financial and business resources to support the future growth of id Software, a huge advantage which will result in more and even better games for our fans.”

id Software will continue to operate as a studio under the direction of its founder, John Carmack. No changes will be made in the operations of id Software in the development of its games. All the principals at id Software have signed long-term employment contracts, assuring they will continue in their roles developing games at the studio.

“This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward,” said John Carmack, who will continue to serve in his current role as Technical Director. “We will now be able to grow and extend all of our franchises under one roof, leveraging our capabilities across multiple teams while enabling forward looking research to be done in the service of all of them. We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am."

Robert Altman, the founder, Chairman & CEO of ZeniMax Media stated, “We, along with many others, consider id Software to be among the finest game studios in the world, with extraordinary design, artistic and technical capabilities. They have demonstrated, repeatedly, that rare ability to create franchise properties that are critical and commercial successes. Our intention is to make sure id Software will continue to do what they do best – make AAA games. Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand.”

ZeniMax Media Inc, which is privately held, was founded in 1999 to create quality interactive entertainment products to meet the growing worldwide demand. The Company is headquartered in Rockville, MD and maintains offices in Hunt Valley, MD, London and Tokyo. Among its wholly owned subsidiaries are Bethesda Softworks, a premier publisher of video games, Vir2L Studios which develops games for the casual market, and ZeniMax Online Studios, a studio dedicated to massively multi-player online games (MMOG).

Bethesda Game Studios, the development group at ZeniMax Media, is one of the top video game studios in the world. Its most recent release, Fallout 3, was the 2008 winner of more than 60 Game of the Year awards, including The Associated Press, Official Xbox Magazine, Yahoo, PC Gamer, IGN, Game Critics Awards, Game Developer Choice Awards, and Gamespy. Bethesda also created the 2006 PC and Xbox 360® Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and the 2002 PC and Xbox® Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Bethesda Game Studios has created 2 of the 10 best games of all time, Fallout 3 and Oblivion, on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation® 3 platforms, as reported by the industry scoring system found at http://www.gamerankings.com.

http://www.zenimax.com/id.htm

I would never, ever, ever, had foreseen id being bought... jebus, wtf. I always though id wanted to stay independent.

[Erratic]

Isn't being rich, independent and self-reliant like the end point of running a game studio? What possible benefit could there be other than being more rich and bigger? And those are hardly good reasons.

[Hourences]

iD has been going downhill for a while though. So while I totally didnt expect this either, it was unthinkable either. It is not like they made bad games, but they just made very little, and their IP's like Quake Wars and the new RTCW didn't do all that well lately.

Must have been seriously expensive tho, for ZeniMax. Paying for the whole slew of IP's they own, the engine, plus the studio itself must have not been cheap.

[Erratic]

The new Wolfenstein isn't out yet.

[Hourences]

And I am not hyped.

[Jetsetlemming]

"We're really getting kind of tired competing with our own publishers in terms of how our titles will be featured," Carmack said. "And we've really gotten more IPs than we've been able to take advantage of. And working with other companies hasn't been working out as spectacularly as it could. So the idea of actually becoming a publisher and merging Bethesda and ZeniMax on there [is ideal.] It would be hard to imagine a more complementary relationship. They are triple A, top-of-the-line in what they do in the RPGs. And they have no overlap with all the things we do in the FPSes."

Quote from Carmack on a Kotaku news article on this.

[Warby]

didn't see this one coming either

it always seamed id was in the position where all game devs want to be in ! so that they give up that independent position is kind of strange maybe carmeck and the other upstairs guys at id want to cash out now ... i could see carmeck retiring after rage ...

[Hourences]

Yes, compared to Valve, who managed to become a publisher, and Epic who pushed their tech, iD has nothing at the moment. They may be feeling that they are getting old, and that they are not up for the ever lasting competition anymore. Instead they may want to focus on just making their games, like the old days, and forget about the rest. Relaxing old day.

Perhaps.

[Erratic]

I'd be totally astounded it if id and Carmack ever felt even slightly less relevant than any other developer.

[Minos]

Bye bye open source engines =)

[Jetsetlemming]

id have been way late on releasing Doom 3's source, so it hasn't really been something worth expecting in years anyway.

[-HP-]

In practice, idtech4 is still current id engine, so carmack will only release it when rage comes out, which will be the first title using idtech5.

Also: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/how-id-an ... ther/1472/

And the interview with carmack: http://kotaku.com/5302139/id-why-we-sold-to-zenimax

[Warby]

epic lol

http://www.gamervision.com/gamer/sarah/ ... isgusting_

i also want to go on record saying that i take

fallout over doom

fallout 2 over doom2 and

fallout 3 over doom3 anyday !

but probably not quake

[PhilipK]

Woah, that was really unexpected

Dunno what to make of this, hopefully it won't change what id does. Because they do it damn well

[st0lve]

NEWS: RAGE TURNS INTO F3 DLC