14 DAY TRIAL // In terms of first person shooters, one of the most revered studios is id Software, which is responsible for hit titles like Doom, Wolfenstein, or Quake. While the studio currently has in development a lot of projects, including the upcoming Activision-published Wolfenstein and the EA-published Rage, things weren't extremely good at the company, at least in terms of getting understood by its partners.
But all of these will change, as the parent company of Bethesda, ZeniMax, has just announced having acquired the prestigious studio and that it aims, in the long run, to help it grow even bigger and to have a major say in any decisions made about publishing and marketing of a game.
Don't think that this move will mean a merger, as id’s co-founder John Carmack, id’s CEO Todd Hellenshead, and ZeniMax’s Chairman and CEO Robert Altman revealed that none of the principals of id or Bethesda would be changed. The publishing plans for Wolfenstein and Rage won't be changed either but potential sequels will be handled by ZeniMax.
“We're really getting kind of tired competing with our own publishers in terms of how our titles will be featured,” said Carmack. “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.”
One of the major goals of this move will be the opportunity for id to grow and establish its own internal teams that will work on all of the projects currently underway, “We can build the pipeline and have a regular pipeline of releases,” revealed Carmack.
“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,” stated Altman. “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.”
With no news about any co-developed games or the possibility of a Fallout set in the Doom or Wolfenstein universe, it seems that the two studios will continue to be independent. Do you think this is a good move for both id and ZeniMax? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.