Zenimax-Media posts

In 2006 Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, launched the Maryland-based Zenimax Online Studios and started making a still unannounced MMO game. While that game still hasn't been announced it sounds like the developer is prepping up for for the game to launch with today's announcement that it will open new offices in Galway, Ireland.

According to today's press release the new offices will be to "provide customer support for players of their future massively multiplayer online games." Zenimax Media says that the customer support center could end with the "creation of hundreds of jobs over the next several years" in Galway. If Zenimax Online Studios is starting to think about customer support we might actually be close to a game announcement.

Prey 2, the long discussed sequel to 2006's sci-fi first person shooter, has apparently been revealed via the cover to the new print issue of France-based gaming magazine Joystick. The cover image was posted by French-based web site NoFrag.com

Aside from the cover image there's no other details yet on this sequel. The original game was first developed, and then canceled, by 3D Realms in the late 1990s. It was later revived and then released in 2006 by publisher 2K Games. It used id Software's Doom 3 engine with Human Head Studios handing most of the development duties with 3D Realms as a "producer". Human Head has yet to release a game since Prey came out nearly five years ago. In 2009 it was revealed that the IP rights to Prey to Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks.

[Via Blue's News]

Bethesda Softworks and its parent company ZeniMax Media have been on a buying spree for the past 18 months or so. In mid 2009 the privately owned company purchased id Software and in 2010 it went ahead and bought three more game studios, including Arkane Studios and Machinegames.

In a new interview at VG247.com, Bethesda's PR head Pete Hines indicated that ZeniMax Media is open to making even more acquisitions. He states, " ... we continue to talk to lots of developers and lots of folks about what they're up to and what they're doing, studios who we respect or who we really want to work with. We want to work with them in whatever shape or form. And if that evolves into something else, then hey, great. If that means we simply publish their next game and work with them that way, that's also great."

Last August at QuakeCon, id Software said it was not going to license out its id Tech 5 graphics engine to third parties unless those developers were working on games for its parent company ZeniMax Media. Today ZeniMax, in confirming earlier reports that it had acquired Sweden-based MachineGames, also stated that the developer's first game will use id Tech 5.

That means MachineGames will be using the same graphics tech that' was developed by id's John Carmack for use in 2011's upcoming shooter Rage and also the next game in the Doom series. There are no other details on what MachineGames' first title will be like

ZeniMax Media, the parent company of game publisher Bethesda Softworks, has been on a spending spree lately. The company announced its acquisition of Arkane Studios last August and in October it announced it acquired the Japan-based Tango Gameworks. Now there's word that ZeniMax has bought yet another developer.

While the company has yet to reveal it officially, Develop has posted up word that business documents seem to confirm that Zenimax has bought Machinegames, a new developer formed last year by former members of Starbreeze Studios, the makers of the acclaimed first person action game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. If this is indeed true the privately owned ZemiMax now owns six game development studios (Bethesda Game Studios, ZeniMax Online Studios, and id Software are the other three dev studios).

ZeniMax Media is continuing its acquisition activities. Today the parent company of publisher Bethesda Softworks announced that it has bought Tango Gameworks, the Japan-based game developer founded by Shinji Mikami, the famed creator of Capcom's Resident Evil series. He supervised the making of the first four games in the series.

The studio will naturally be making new game titles for Bethesda to publish but details of the games have yet to be announced. In addition to its in-house Bethesda Game Studios (makers of the Elder Scrolls series) and ZeniMax Online Studios (currently making an unannounced MMO game) ZeniMax Media acquired id Software in 2009 and earlier this year purchased Arkane Studios.

When Zenimax Media purchased id Software back in May 2009, id's next game Rage was still under the publishing wing of Electronic Arts. However in December 2009 it was announced that EA had decided to turn over the publishing duties of the upcoming first person shooter to id's new owners under the Bethesda Softworks label.

As it turns out, that decision will (hopefully) help to make Rage a better game. Without naming EA directly, id Software's creative director Tim Willits told Gamesindustry.biz, "I can tell you that if we weren't part of the Zenimax family, we'd be trying to rush this game out." Having Zenimax and Bethesda Softworks take over publishing gave id the freedom to say " ... let's get the multiplayer awesome, let's get the game as great as we can make it. Without their support, I honestly think that Rage would not be as good as it's going to be." Rage is currently set for release in September 2011.

It's yet another day in the world of business, and on this particular day, Zenimax Media has received a $150 million investment from the mega-huge equity firm Providence Equity. This isn't the first time they've received an investment from the firm, as three years ago they also poured $300 million into the publisher. In case you are not aware, Zenimax is the owner of both Bethesda and id Software, two incredibly popular PC developers, so this new investment helps keep both developers producing the games they want to make.

We are about two weeks away from the start of the 2010 edition of QuakeCon, the free LAN event/consumer game show sponsored by id Software and their new owners ZeniMax Media. The August 12-15 event in Dallas has just announced the main tournaments that will be held for the show which will include a chance for anyone attending QuakeCon to get in on the action.

For the pro gamers, QuakeCon will feature the Quake Live Masters Tournament with 64 players competing in 1 vs 1 matches in id Software's free-to-play shooter game. The grand prize winner gets $14,000. There will also be a Quake Live Capture The Flag Championship where 32 teams of four players will compete with the winning team getting $14,000. Finally there will be the Quake Live Open Championship for 128 QuakeCon attendees. Registration for that event happens on the first day of QuakeCon on a first come-first serve basis. The winning gamer in that tournament gets $1,500.

It's been while since id Software officially announced their plans for QuakeCon 2010. The free LAN-gaming event is still scheduled to happen on August 12-15 in Dallas but the site still has not started registration for the event. However a recent post by a QuakeCon organizer indicates that there may be a big change coming when registration begins.

According to the forum post, while QuakeCon 2010 will still be free to attend, including being able to set up in the Bring Your Own Computer area, "we're going to have a premium registration option for the BYOC" for a portion of the available seats. There are no details in the forum posts on how much this option will cost but it does state, "it's impossible that the new option will 'crowd out' the free seats." We have emailed id Software's owners Bethesda Softworks to get more info on this new QuakeCon 2010 registration option and also when registration for this year's event will actually begin.