ZeniMax Media acquires Id Software

SexyK

Golden Member
Jul 30, 2001
1,343
4
76
Big deal:

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 www.metacritic.com and www.gamerankings.com.
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
7
81
BETHESDA? HAHAHA. Todd Hollenshead you stupid fuck.

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.?

What? Where does Bethesda align with Doom/Quake/Rage at all?

Ah well whatever, maybe something good will come out of it, but it sounds like the final nail in the "old Id Software".
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: skace
BETHESDA? HAHAHA. Todd Hollenshead you stupid fuck.

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.?

What? Where does Bethesda align with Doom/Quake/Rage at all?

Ah well whatever, maybe something good will come out of it, but it sounds like the final nail in the "old Id Software".

They align in producing cross platform games which push consoles. That sounds like development to me. They both want to extract the maximum from the PS3 and 360.
They align in producing (arguably) hardcore games for gamers, rather than more casual games (e.g. Sims, Viva Pinata type stuff), so marketing is helped there, since they are aiming at a similar crowd.

What's to say Bethesda won't use the new id engine for future games, leveraging in house tech rather than licensing Gamebryo etc.
 

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
5,957
7
81
The Rage tech sounds perfect for the type of games that Bethesda makes.

Also, they're a self-publishing company, that's a pretty big freaking deal, how many companies do that anymore?
 

EnzoLT

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2005
1,843
4
91
i can see now that in 14 years, there will be only 5 game companies left chugging out games, EA, Activision, Zenimax, Valve, and Take-Two. get ready for a bunch of half-assed games with classic titles on it Doom 400 anyone?
 

Ulchieman

Member
Apr 7, 2003
37
0
0
Well how about you go ahead and start an independent studio and subject your families to the financial risks of it then. Developers are people too, and with development costs as high as they are, and the industry as competitive as it is, I can't blame developers at all.
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: EnzoLT
i can see now that in 14 years, there will be only 5 game companies left chugging out games, EA, Activision, Zenimax, Valve, and Take-Two. get ready for a bunch of half-assed games with classic titles on it Doom 400 anyone?

No Ubisoft, Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony?

Also think of all the smaller studios who are now able to get their games out due to things like digital distribution.
Sure they may not be 100% retail big budget games, but things like Red Orchestra, Killing Floor, World of Goo, Braid, Plans vs Zombies, Natural Selection 2 etc.
 

coloumb

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,069
0
81
Wow. I thought idsoftware pretty much had enough money in the bank to be financially independent until the end of time. Perhaps the profits of the old doom/quake games weren't enough to keep them in the comfort zone or generate the cash flow they needed to continue development on "rage".
 

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
7
76
This is just a pooling of resources. Both companies were not in great shape. Together they can at least stay in business.
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
7
81
Originally posted by: Lonyo
They align in producing cross platform games which push consoles. That sounds like development to me. They both want to extract the maximum from the PS3 and 360.
They align in producing (arguably) hardcore games for gamers, rather than more casual games (e.g. Sims, Viva Pinata type stuff), so marketing is helped there, since they are aiming at a similar crowd.

What's to say Bethesda won't use the new id engine for future games, leveraging in house tech rather than licensing Gamebryo etc.

Well hmm, I don't know anymore.

"Collaborative efforts between id and Bethesda are not planned, but are not ruled out. "We certainly like the guys over there and there certainly is going to be more communications," Carmack said. "We'll see what happens in collaboration. I expect that there certainly is not going to be any major common technological base or anything like that. They have their program and we have got ours. We are going to help each other out as much as possible. But the organizations are expected to remain pretty nicely discreet.""

I'll hold off any more scathing comments but I still don't like this. Id's always been rogue, it's hard to imagine someone else having a large say in what they do.
 

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,198
204
106
If sometime it will mean that Bethesda can get rid of that dinosaur of an engine that is GameBryo then I am all for it.
 

Slick5150

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2001
8,760
3
81
iD can certainly help Bethesda out on the tech side of things with engine development and whatnot, and maybe some of Bethesda's guys can help id make their games more fleshed out. so, a merger there may make some sense on both sides really. I don't have a problem with this.
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,315
800
126
Originally posted by: skace
BETHESDA? HAHAHA. Todd Hollenshead you stupid fuck.

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.?

What? Where does Bethesda align with Doom/Quake/Rage at all?

Ah well whatever, maybe something good will come out of it, but it sounds like the final nail in the "old Id Software".

Oblivion: Enemy Territory!
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,315
800
126
Originally posted by: coloumb
Wow. I thought idsoftware pretty much had enough money in the bank to be financially independent until the end of time. Perhaps the profits of the old doom/quake games weren't enough to keep them in the comfort zone or generate the cash flow they needed to continue development on "space rockets".

Fixed.