Bethesda buys id Software
Nostromo
:
Zenimax, parent company to Bethesda and Zenimax Online, announced today that
it had acquired id Software, best known for their work on such classic FPS
titles as Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein.
With these new properties falling under the Zenimax umbrella that includes
an MMO studio, it certainly raises some interesting possibilities.
une 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.�
------------------
No comment. (well, not yet, anyway :)
--
Nostromo
Zank Frappa
> Zenimax, parent company to Bethesda and Zenimax Online, announced
> today that it had acquired id Software, best known for their work on such
> classic FPS titles as Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein."
Heh, and you thought Oblivion with guns was bad? Wait till you see
Quake with swords.
Mark Morrison
Guns that fire swords.
Swords ON FIRE !!!
Greg Johnson
>Zenimax, parent company to Bethesda and Zenimax Online, announced today that
>it had acquired id Software, best known for their work on such classic FPS
>titles as Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein.
>------------------
>
>No comment. (well, not yet, anyway :)
Hey, it's not April 1st!
Werner Spahl
> No comment. (well, not yet, anyway :)
I think id Software and Bethesda fit very well ;). Although I admire John
Carmack's work on 3D engines, where he is still the master in my eyes, the
id games themselfes were always very similar to the latest Bethesda ones:
High quality triple A games providing decent fun and length but lacking in
the depth and story department compared to e.g. my beloved Bloodlines :)!
--
Dr. Werner Spahl (sp...@cup.uni-muenchen.de) Freedom for
Wesp5 @ Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Vorlonships
Nostromo
Anno Domini:
ROFL - see guys, no need for me to even comment any more! >8^D
--
Nostromo
Nostromo
+1000, Anno Domini:
It is if you check Bethidsoft's server date. ;)
--
Nostromo
Nostromo
09:23:35 +0200, Anno Domini:
>On Thu, 25 Jun 2009, Nostromo wrote:
>
>> No comment. (well, not yet, anyway :)
>
>I think id Software and Bethesda fit very well ;). Although I admire John
>Carmack's work on 3D engines, where he is still the master in my eyes, the
>id games themselfes were always very similar to the latest Bethesda ones:
>High quality triple A games providing decent fun and length but lacking in
>the depth and story department compared to e.g. my beloved Bloodlines :)!
How did I know you'd get a plug in for VTMB by the end of the post Werner!
;-p (not that I mind - just about to see how it runs on my new rig with the
widescreen patch for 1920x1080 *drool*...now, where was that darn patch
again).
And, you're being far too kind to Carmack - he's only a half step behind
Garriot in my books & Bethesda I don't need to comment on ;).
--
Nostromo
Werner Spahl
> And, you're being far too kind to Carmack
I think he makes the best FPS engines yet, not just brute force approaches
like the CryTek guys. But he is no game designer as such, I blame the rest
of id if their games end up shallow. Carmack is more the technical type...
Vincenzo Beretta
"Zank Frappa" <themet...@gmail.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:e95572d6-0fcf-42c5...@f16g2000vbf.googlegroups.com...
You mean "a fun game that will be appreciated by its players and derided -
with detailed explanation about why - by those who don't play it?" :o)
John Lewis
Huh? Chalk and cheeze....
JC is STILL a genius game-ENGINE programmer and Garriott WAS a great
game-PLAY designer. The only thing they now have in common is their
fascination with space-travel. Even there JC is more involved with the
technical 'how to do it', RG with the actual experience.
> & Bethesda I don't need to comment on ;).
Of course not. Care to change those ancient-prescription
pebble-glasses for something that better matches your eyes.
John Lewis
>
>--
>Nostromo
Mark Morrison
<sp...@cup.uni-muenchen.de> wrote:
>On Fri, 26 Jun 2009, Nostromo wrote:
>
>> And, you're being far too kind to Carmack
>
>I think he makes the best FPS engines yet, not just brute force approaches
>like the CryTek guys. But he is no game designer as such, I blame the rest
>of id if their games end up shallow. Carmack is more the technical type...
Will get get Fallout 4 on an id-created engine ?
I hope so - Fallout 3 (and Oblivion) looked nice, but the engine has
quirks.
Be interesting to see how an id+Bethesda combination works, in a
practical sense.
CoinSpin
From the bits I've seen of the acquisition, there won't be much
cross-talk between the 2 (at least for now). The post title is actually
a bit misleading also, from what I've seen - Bethesda didn't "buy" id,
Bethesda's parent company (ZeniMax) did, which makes them siblings in
the corporate structure, not one subservient to the other. From all
initial comments, Bethesda will keep on churning out Bethesda titles,
and id will keep on doing what id does. Bethesda WILL be publishing the
id games that are not already in contract to another company/publisher,
from this point forward, but that's just publishing and distribution,
not development. It actually frees up id to concentrate more on just
developing more kick ass FPS games and evolving their game engines.
I can forsee alot of cross-company technology sharing coming down the
pike... The 3D engine side was probably the single biggest perk that
ZeniMax was using to justify the acquisition.
--
~ CoinSpin
Nostromo
Anno Domini:
>On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:10:04 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, Mark Morrison
>wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:13:32 +0200, Werner Spahl
>><sp...@cup.uni-muenchen.de> wrote:
>>
>>>On Fri, 26 Jun 2009, Nostromo wrote:
>>>
>>>> And, you're being far too kind to Carmack
>>>
>>>I think he makes the best FPS engines yet, not just brute force approaches
>>>like the CryTek guys. But he is no game designer as such, I blame the rest
>>>of id if their games end up shallow. Carmack is more the technical type...
>>
>>Will get get Fallout 4 on an id-created engine ?
>>
>>I hope so - Fallout 3 (and Oblivion) looked nice, but the engine has
>>quirks.
>>
>>Be interesting to see how an id+Bethesda combination works, in a
>>practical sense.
>
>If it's anything like Doom 3, they might have to rename the series "Blackout."
ROFLMFAO! Or at least VeryDarkShitBrownAt3fpsMaxOut. >8^D
--
Nostromo
JAB
> On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:10:04 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, Mark Morrison
>
>> On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:13:32 +0200, Werner Spahl
>> <sp...@cup.uni-muenchen.de> wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, 26 Jun 2009, Nostromo wrote:
>>>
>>>> And, you're being far too kind to Carmack
>>> I think he makes the best FPS engines yet, not just brute force approaches
>>> like the CryTek guys. But he is no game designer as such, I blame the rest
>>> of id if their games end up shallow. Carmack is more the technical type...
>> Will get get Fallout 4 on an id-created engine ?
>>
>> I hope so - Fallout 3 (and Oblivion) looked nice, but the engine has
>> quirks.
>>
>> Be interesting to see how an id+Bethesda combination works, in a
>> practical sense.
>
>
Maybe that's the plan to disguise the awful movement models in Fallout 3
-- you can't complain about what you can't see!
Ross Ridge
>Will get get Fallout 4 on an id-created engine ?
>
>I hope so - Fallout 3 (and Oblivion) looked nice, but the engine has
>quirks.
I don't know if that would be so good. One of the problems with the Doom
3 engine was that it wasn't all that good for games that weren't Doom 3.
I'd expect Bethesda to have much better luck (and less quirks) sticking
with a much more flexible engine like Gamebyro than the next FPS engine
that id creates.
Ross Ridge
--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rridge/
db //
Werner Spahl
> One of the problems with the Doom 3 engine was that it wasn't all that
> good for games that weren't Doom 3.
That was my initial impression too, but Quake Wars showed that wide open
spaces could indeed be done with the Doom 3 engine. Also the new engine
tech 5 for Rage is said to much better for open spaces, so who knows.
Werner Spahl
> It actually frees up id to concentrate more on just developing more kick
> ass FPS games and evolving their game engines.
I read an interview with Carmack in which he said that this was the main
reason id agreed to the buyout. No more hazzle in choosing publishers and
to stay independent they choose small ZeniMax and not EA or Activision.
Ross Ridge
> One of the problems with the Doom 3 engine was that it wasn't all that
> good for games that weren't Doom 3.
Werner Spahl <sp...@cup.uni-muenchen.de> wrote:
>That was my initial impression too, but Quake Wars showed that wide open
>spaces could indeed be done with the Doom 3 engine. Also the new engine
>tech 5 for Rage is said to much better for open spaces, so who knows.
A continuous open-world map is on entirely different scale than an
outdoor map level in a FPS. The Doom 3 engine solution of baking the
entire outdoor terrain of a level into one giant "megatexture" wouldn't
work for a game like Oblivion or Fallout 3.