In a somewhat surprise move today, Zenimax, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, has acquired id Software, famed developer of the Doom and Quake series of games. Both companies promise to maintain the status quo at id Software, with all the executives from the company signing long-term contracts to continue their roles with 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."
Zenimax is a private company, and now has Doom, Fallout, Quake, Oblivion, Rage, Wolfeinstein, and Brink in its stable of content. Robert Altman, the CEO of Zenimax, stated, "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.” The interesting bit? EA has already signed to publish Rage, leaving Zenimax with little to do when it comes to id's upcoming title.
While this news is surprising, both companies have sterling reputations in the gaming world, and if id had to be acquired, there were much worse places for it to go—no, we won't name names... We'll continue to follow this story and update with any new details as they emerge.
FALLOUT/QUAKE CROSSOVER YES!
This is an odd acquisition on bethesda's part, but I am probably missing something they gotta know better than I do.
It just seems like ID is really only good for tech these days, and thats not a spot where bethesda needs any help, and doom and Quake are, sad to say, kinda irrelevant at this point.
Maybe they wanna ride on Carmack's rocket ship and laugh at his voice.
So what happens to Splash Damage exactly? And what about Raven Software? Didn't they do a lot of their stuff with id?
So they finally have some of the best engines around.
Won't make a fuck difference in their abysmal writing (dialogues + quests).
So they finally have some of the best engines around.
Won't make a fuck difference in their abysmal writing (dialogues + quests).
This is a beautiful marriage.
ID games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Bethesda games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Now they can make dull repetitive games together! :D
This is a beautiful marriage.
ID games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Bethesda games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Now they can make dull repetitive games together! :D
This is a beautiful marriage.
ID games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Bethesda games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Now they can make dull repetitive games together! :D
I think you're confusing id and bethesda with EVERY JAPANESE ROLE-PLAYING GAME EVER MADE
This is a beautiful marriage.
ID games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Bethesda games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Now they can make dull repetitive games together! :D
I think you're confusing id and bethesda with EVERY JAPANESE ROLE-PLAYING GAME EVER MADE
At least the Japanese know how to design unique dungeons...
Fallout 3 was great but the dungeon design was repetitive and dull as all hell.
How have your respective workforces reacted to the news? What do they think of the acquisition?
JC: We made a simultaneous announcement at Bethesda and at id. The first reaction was that everyone was a little bit shocked. The rumor mill wasn't terribly effective at informing anyone like this was going on, so many were caught flat-footed. ... After the announcement, I just heard from people over and over about how Fallout 3 was incredible and their favorite game of all time. And [Bethesda executive producer] Todd Howard told us of all the big id fans they have there at Bethesda. ...
Pete Hines: From Bethesda's side, there were a lot of jaws hitting the floor, a lot of "Holy shit". Everybody at our company views id the same. These guys are at the top of the industry in terms of what they have accomplished, and the amount of respect they've earned over the years.
...[id] has agreed to come up and show Rage next week to everybody at Bethesda, so everybody there can see it firsthand, because we heard amazing things about it. It's been a great meshing of cultures and personalities.
JC: We're going to take every opportunity to share our knowledge, hard-won wisdom of recent product cycles, anything we can share technology-wise, Bethesda is welcome to cherry pick. We already have slated our plans years ahead, so there aren't going to be any massive changes. We're not going to splice id Tech5 into anything Bethesda is doing. But anything they want to cherry pick, they're more than welcome to.
...
JC: There are also things that we want to learn from Bethesda -- the things they're doing with downloadable content, marketing, we want that to be applied on our behalf for our products. We don't want to say, "Leave us alone, we want to be exactly as we were before." We're going to do all the things we have been doing, but there are opportunities for us to improve as a result of this.
...
Any chance, and this could be out there, that somewhere down the line we could see a jointly-created game, or is it safe to assume products will be separate?
PH: I don't think so. They're building up their teams, and they already have four amazing brands they're working on. So they already have enough titles to work on that they own. On the flip side, Todd [Howard] and his team have their hands full with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.
This is a beautiful marriage.
ID games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Bethesda games these days = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Now they can make dull repetitive games together! :D
I think you're confusing id and bethesda with EVERY JAPANESE ROLE-PLAYING GAME EVER MADE
At least the Japanese know how to design unique dungeons...
Fallout 3 was great but the dungeon design was repetitive and dull as all hell.