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ZeniMax, Parent Company of Bethesda, Buys id Software
CelticLo writes "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. In an interview with Kotaku, John Carmack said, 'We're really getting kind of tired competing with our own publishers in terms of how our titles will be featured. 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.' The press release confirmed that id's projects will remain under Carmack's control."
Looks like they might have a bonafide Atari stomping machine.
There is a war going on for your mind.
I was about to post it. Its hard to belive! I hope Quake live goes on for Linux... I wonder what happens to legacy IP from ID and how will it blend with Bethesda IP. Quake vs Terminator: future shock? =-P
I hope they will carry on using OpenGL and providing Linux native binaries.
They're both formerly great game developers who have now sold out and make shitty console games. So it's a good match. Possible next step: Get Epic in there too.
Carmack revealed that the added resources of the new company will enable him to prevent repeats of the company's biggest flops, In other words, he can now keep overhyped wrestlers from ever being associated with id game titles.
The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
Could this mean that ID is now going to become less OSS/Linux friendly?
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I was kind of hoping a new one would come out with the arrival of the new movie.
So after reading about Zenimax on wikipedia, it said that Dr. Chris Weaver was forced out of the company. (Dual Doctorates at MIT). And zenimax didn't pay its 1.2 million severance in the contract.
Kinda interesting, Weaver broke into Zenimax's email server and used the copies in court. So the appeals court dismissed his case due prejudice. The other interesting thing is the CEO of Zenimax was in a banking fraud scandal and banned from banking industry by the feds.
Doesnt sound like a great team heading it up. I bet this comes back to bite Carmack in the ass down the road.
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.'
What about Fallout 3?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Doctor Carmack's condition is irreversible. Because Carmack's condition is that... he sold out.
We're tired of fighting with the people who "present" our stuff to the public...
(yeah, I don't really remember nor care who "published" Quake (1/2/3), it was id as far as I care, what are those other leaches giving us?).
Complementary?
Say "Quake".
Say "Doom".
Find someone who DOESN'T know SOMETHING about one of those two games (any version).
Zenimax looks to be a flash haven,
And what the hell has Bathesda done?
More Elder Scroll than Square has done FF?
It should have been the other way around...
Id acquires two waste-of-bits-game-companies.
Their situation was very similar to Valve's before Steam became a viable platform. (ie: struggles with EA/Sierra) But the two roads diverged: We see that Valve's initially puzzling move of developing their own distribution channels has lead to a period of unbridled growth and creativity. iD's decision to innovate only on their core competencies (graphics,graphics,graphics) has lead to the events of today.
Zenimax with Bethesda makes great games with crappy software.
ID makes crappy games with great software.
Either this is going to be GREAT GAMES WITH GREAT SOFTWARE or CRAPPY GAMES WITH CRAPPY SOFTWARE.
I honestly can't think of a good ID game in the sense of a contemporary game. BRILLIANT technology. Great game engines, but the games themselves were always lack luster. In short: If it moves, it dies. That was it.
Doom series was nearly devoid of any literary content. It was literally just shoot stuff. Fun mind you but nothing to write home about.
Fallout 3 shows you can have an excellent game structured around bug ridden crap code.
Imagine ID's team doing the coding with the BETTER half doing the rest. Pure magic.
OR A COMPLETE DISASTER AS THEY BRING OUT THE WORST IN ONE ANOTHER.
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
I guess if Carmack is happy, then all is well with the new arrangement. It is strange that his "bigger, stronger, best talent" comment seems to run counter to his "small, tight, efficient" philosophy of the glory days at Id. It almost struck me as more "Romaro-esque". I guess with the demanding complexity and resources required for development in the current environment, even the best of the best need to make some sacrifices in autonomy to survive.
As long as I get my next Elder Scrolls fix (and it's still single-player and anywhere near as good as Oblivion), Bethesda can do no wrong.
In the meantime, howsabout an official version of Morroblivion? I'd pay good money for that!
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Sounds like Carmack may be setting things in motion to shift his attention to Armadillo Aerospace.
Next thing we know, he'll be performing secret experiments with teleportation... we all know how that story turns out.
as long as ID software keeps doing what it's doing now (making high-quality games) that's good. If, however, they act out like bethesda and make Doom 4 and other upcoming titles rushed a la fallout 3, then they'll see their sales drop a lot.
i hope, ZM(and related studioushome or contractors)) finally switch to more appropriate(for their products)angine, like iD Tech 5, for example. little lack of "easy to use" SDK(like CT SandBox or UnreaEd or etc)-tools maybe also fixed and thus - main and only present GameBryo egine advantages can be quickly elemintated with any reason to use it further.
that can be awesome games !! not GameBryo-powered freaks.
Perhaps this is OT, but I think it is likely the primary reason for this deal- What happened to iD's engine licensing? Before D3 it seemed 80% of games were iD based, the rest being Unreal. What happened to make iD's engines so unappealing today?
Space Marine 1: I saw a cacodemon the other day by the water.
Space Marine 2: Filthy creatures.
Space Marine 1: Yes.
They're Raging on about how Tech 5 megatextures can render vast landscapes without compromising performance. I think an Elder Scrolls game would be a perfect showcase for this in action. *fingers crossed*
Personally, I think this will just mean id software becoming a 'licensed game sweatshop' with non-stop Elder Scrolls spinoffs and Terminator titles. I sure hope they stick to their own original IPs and only get production funding out of this...
Personally, I've been real unimpressed with iD's engine offerings. When Doom 3 came out I was extremely underwhelmed. It was a great example of something that was maybe more technically correct, but didn't look as good. I felt UT2004 looked better, despite being an older engine. I mean the lighting in Doom 3 was a neat technology, but didn't work well in game. You ended up with extremely dark corners because the shadows were all hard and light bounced only once. Also it required some heavy hitting hardware in relation to how good it looked.
UE3 just totally annihilates it and that is still the engine they are using, with minor updates. The sales numbers back it up too. IdTech 4, which is what Doom 3 uses, has been used in like 8 games, a number of them iD's own. UE3 has been used in like 50 games, and UE2 in like 70.
Epic has really out done iD in the engine area in my opinion.
Yes, I know the company is still there, but is the team really still relevant? The company that's there now just doesn't seem to have much in common the id we always knew and loved, largely because of talent drain.
id lost a lot of it's best people years ago, Carmack is still there but hardly any of the greats from the Wolf/Doom/Quake days are still there. Romero? McGee? Petersen? Carmack (Adrian)? Steed?
It seems they lost their key people in various areas, sure people like Romero became laughing stocks when they left because the guy clearly wasn't a CEO when it came to, that doesn't mean of course he wasn't a great designer and developer when working at id. McGee and Petersen - almost certainly their greatest level builders. Steed, their best 3D artist. Even people like David Kirsch who did the Quakeworld netcode that is still the foundation of the netcode in many modern FPS such as HL2.
Carmack was always id's best programmer when it came to visualisation, but the loss of other key characters seems to sum up what id Software has become - a developer of games that are graphically impressive, but hollow beyond that. With the rise of the newer versions of the Unreal engine and developers like Crytek even Carmack's prowess in the graphics world seems to be lagging a bit.
It's sad in a way, I'll always respect id for what they were, but I think the loss of so many key figures was a big deal. I don't mean to detract from the staff working there now, id still has some brilliant people but I think what id doesn't have anymore is a dream team which I think it did have back in the old Wolf/Doom/Quake days.
I'd love to see that team reunite for one more game but that's little more than a dream.
This is a very sad day. If the suits have managed to successfully assimilate John Carmack, then it can very truly be said that nobody in the gaming industry is now safe.
It's odd. Blizzard sold out just before the release of The Burning Crusade; I think subconsciously I always held out some naive, juvenile hope that id would somehow manage to remain themselves, and stay autonomous.
It is also disturbing and upsetting to witness Carmack attempt to rationalise that he will be able to remain in control of the company's projects. Richard Garriott probably thought that when he initially got into bed with EA, as well; and we all know how that turned out. Garriott got voted out by the board of directors of his own company.
We've been given some great games by id, but nothing lasts forever. I'm not going to fall for the line that it will still be business as usual, either; I've seen too many developer/artist startups get swallowed by spreader companies (EA, Activision, etc) to know that that is not true, and can never be true.
Once the suits move in, the show is over.
Great, with all these extra resources, they'll be able to get the linux ports like Quake Live done faster!
A win for everyone!
Seriously though, hopefully this turns out the way id planned, and the linux and open source stuff doesn't get canned.
Great, I look forward to seeing an extra ZeniMax screen every time I fire up an ID game.