This is the best news I have heard in a while. For those of you who don’t know, ZeniMax Media is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, creator of The Elder Scrolls series as well as Fallout 3. ZeniMax announced today in a press release that their acquisition of id Software has been completed. ZeniMax CEO, Robert Altman, has this to say about it:

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.

John Carmack adds that this merger-of-sorts “puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward.” He also states in an interview with Kotaku that they were “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.”

While RAGE will be published by EA, as id already has a contract with them, Doom 4 and any other future titles with be published through Bethesda Softworks. As I mentioned above, this news excites me. id Software has done extremely well as an independent developer, but I think having a dedicated publisher will work out very well for them – especially a publisher like Bethesda Softworks.

Now that id Software is a part of ZeniMax they will be able to completely focus on the development of their id Tech 5 engine as well as finishing RAGE. John Carmack has said before that their focus is on making video games and not licensing their engine. Further more, he stated that he would only let selected developers use the engine. This is something that I never agreed with Carmack about, I think we need as many developers using the Tech 5 engine as possible.

I don’t want to get into all the technical details but Tech 5 puts the Unreal Engine 5 to shame in regards to visual quality, flexibility, and development. Tech 5 is a big step forward in technology, and will be able to deliver a higher end visual experience than what is available on the market. It will also be playable across consoles and lower end PCs and will be able to slip between operating systems with the slightest of ease. I just hope that ZeniMax sees the licensing potential of the id Tech 5 engine.

[source shacknews]