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Tag: ZeniMax

  • Microsoft Buys Game Maker ZeniMax for $7.5 Billion

    Microsoft Buys Game Maker ZeniMax for $7.5 Billion

    Microsoft on Monday announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, one of the largest, privately-held game developers and publishers in the world. The ZeniMax library includes game franchises such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, and Rage, among many others, Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in cash.

    “Gaming is the most expansive category in the entertainment industry, as people everywhere turn to gaming to connect, socialize and play with their friends,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Quality differentiated content is the engine behind the growth and value of Xbox Game Pass—from Minecraft to Flight Simulator. As a proven game developer and publisher, Bethesda has seen success across every category of games, and together, we will further our ambition to empower the more than three billion gamers worldwide.”

    “This is an awesome time to be an Xbox fan. In the last 10 days alone, we’ve released details on our two new consoles which go on pre-order tomorrow, launched cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and now we’re making another investment in the most critical part of our strategy: the games,” said Phil Spencer, executive vice president, Gaming at Microsoft. “Generations of gamers have been captivated by the renowned franchises in the Bethesda portfolio and will continue to be so for years to come as part of Xbox.”

    Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media was founded in 1999 by Chairman and CEO Robert A. Altman; Bethesda’s structure and leadership will remain in place.

    “This is a thrilling day for this company, our employees, and our fans. We have enjoyed a close partnership with Microsoft for decades, and this deal is a natural progression of those years working together,” said Altman. “The big winners today are our fans. We are continuing to develop our slate of AAA games, but now with Microsoft’s scale and entire Game Stack, our games can only get better.”

    Phil Spencer, head of Xbox at Microsoft, discusses the company’s acquisition of game maker ZeniMax and how this impacts gaming and the Xbox platform:

    Adding ZeniMax Games To Xbox Is Incredible

    Gamers love great games. The Xbox console is going on preorder tomorrow for the next generation. Just last week we added Game Pass cloud streaming so that people can play this Game Pass library across all of their Android phones. Then obviously Game Pass which is the largest game content subscription out there with 15 million subscribers and growing. So getting to work with ZeniMax to bring their amazing collection of games to GamePass is just an incredible opportunity for us.

    Our plan is to leave it alone. ZeniMax has an amazing track record of building great games. Our goal is to make ZeniMax the best ZeniMax they can be. ZeniMax will be working individually with their studios on the great platform technology that we have, getting their creators feedback into the things that we need to go build. That’s just a critical flywheel for us innovating, just the feedback from the world’s best creators on our platform.

    Committed To Bringing Game Pass To iPhones

    When you get large scale general compute platforms like mobile phones people should have access to the great content and services that are out there. We remain committed to that. There are over 3 billion people who play video games today and many of them play on phones. We’re committed to bringing Game Pass to all mobile phones out there including Apple phones. We will continue to have conversations and I’m sure we will be able to get to some resolution.

    Our biggest issue (with the Apple app store) isn’t a financial issue. Our biggest issue is that cloud game streaming apps are actually not allowed in the way that Game Pass is built for other platforms. For us, this is about gamers having great access to the content from the creators they love on the devices they own. Play the games that you want with the community that you want to play with the devices that you have. That’s our goal.

    COVID Impacted Game Production

    People with sheltering in place and work from home, we’ve seen incredible engagement in the gaming community over the last few months. We’re really proud with the way that gaming has been able to play such a pivotal role for people. Games today are hundreds of people coming together to build these massive games. It’s important that we’re conscious of the safety of our teams. COVID has had an impact on production and you’re seeing that out there.

    When you look at this launch and people’s appetite for gaming right now we are very bullish on how are preorders are going to go tomorrow. We have the most powerful console on the market. We have the most affordable console on the market. We’ve got things like Xbox All Access that allow people to join this next generation of gaming for $24.99 a month with no upfront costs. You get a console and Game Pass. In times like this, I think that accessibility of price point and offer is really important.

  • Here’s How Character Creation Works In The Elder Scrolls Online

    Character creation is key to The Elder Scrolls Online experience. That’s at least what Zenimax Online Studios says about the upcoming MMO.

    In the latest trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online, the team shows off the character creation tool that all players will use when they first start up the game. Like most character creation systems, players will be able to customize their character in pretty much every way. For instance, players will be able to meticulously refine just how fat or skinny they want their player character to be. You want an Argonian with a beer belly? You got it. Want to look like an anorexic fashion model? You can do that too.

    The team also makes much ado about the face customization engine. There are near limitless possibilities so let’s hope players actually take the effort to craft a custom face. If not, The Elder Scrolls Online may end up looking like a world full of NPCs from Oblivion.

    The Elder Scrolls Online is on schedule to launch at some point in Q1 2014 for PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One. The game was recently featured as one of three PS4 titles in Sony’s first TV spot for its next-gen console.

    [Image: ZenimaxOnlineStudios]

  • New Trailer For ‘The Evil Within’ Looks Crazy, Disappears Quickly

    The fact that Shinji Mikami, who created the Resident Evil series, is making a brand new horror survival game is, of course, worth any gamer’s attention. Hence the collective geek scream of joy that was overheard when The Evil Within was announced. While it isn’t scheduled for release until next year (2014), the delay only gives the anticipation more time to build. It’s that, or the impending feeling of doom as more and more footage is released to the public.

    Speaking of which, there’s a new trailer for The Evil Within that popped up at Sony’s press conference in Japan, and it, too, looks impressive/daunting. The problem is Bethesda, the game’s publisher, isn’t ready to release the footage to the public, and so, they are pulling copies that show up on YouTube. Case in point belongs to VG247.com and their embedded video, which has already been booted by ZeniMax, Bethesda’s parent company. While we’ve managed to find another upload, it’s doubtful it will last too long.

    Get it while you can:


    You’ll notice the game being previewed was called Psycho Break, which represents the game’s title in Japan, much like the Biohazard/Resident Evil Japan/Non-Japan title switch. If you navigate to the Twitter account being publicized in the trailer–@PsychoBreakJPN–you’ll notice the tweets are primarily in Japanese, but the look and feel uses the same theme as its Western counterpart.

    As for the what we saw in the trailer, I’m sufficiently freaked the hell out, especially during the trailer’s closing sequence. I can imagine many pants being soiled when that part plays out in 50-plus inches of high definition glory. The game is being developed for all current and next-gen consoles. PC gamers will be getting a version, too.

    [Lead image via Bethesda]

  • The Elder Scrolls Online Will Cost You $14.99 A Month

    For those of you who are eager to get your MMO on in Tamriel, some recent news may take some of that wind out of your sails. If, however, money is no object, carry on with your anticipation. While those who populate the World of Warcraft are probably asking what the fuss is about, the fact that the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online will feature a monthly subscription rate of $14.99 a month apparently caught some by surprise, at least according to Twitter. Those familiar with the MMORPG traditional business model–before dreaded microtransactions moved in–expected something along these lines, but for others, it appears as if Bethesda and ZeniMax may have just lost some potential customers with their confirmation of the subscription price.

    In an interview with Gamestar.de, Matt Firor, General Manager of ZeniMax Online, did just that:

    Since you’ve been so forthcoming, could you also reveal the available subscriptions? How much will a month of ESO cost?

    We’ll go into details on this later, but the basic monthly charge will be $14.99/€12.99/£8.99 and expect some discounts if you buy multiple months at a time. We’ll also support game time cards as well as a variety of payment methods.

    From the sound of it, players will be able to buy subscription gift cards that will secure blocks of time, much like WoW’s Game Time. Judging by the reaction on Twitter, apparently, some people were hoping for the Free-To-Play/microtransaction model instead of paying a monthly subscription after the base game has been purchased:


    However, at least one lone dissenter prefers the monthly charge to having to buy essential in-game items while they’re playing:


    That, however, seems to represent the minority reaction, but then again, maybe some of the negativity is from people following the current trend. With that in mind, which side of the fence are you on? The “Hell yeah more Skyrim” side that will pay willingly or the side that says the hell with monthly subscriptions?

    [Lead image via]

  • Elder Scrolls Online Beta Sign-Ups Are Live, 6-Minute Cinematic Trailer Released

    The announcement Elder Scrolls and MMO fans alike have been waiting for has finally arrived. Bethesda has officially opened sign-ups for The Elder Scrolls Online beta testing.

    The sign-up questionnaire can be found on The Elder Scrolls Online website here. The questions include guild affiliation, previous MMOs played, previous Elder Scrolls games played, play style, and a DxDiag file from your computer.

    Gamers who are selected for beta testing will get access to early versions of the game. Bethesda even mentioned that the first beta test will begin “soon.” Of course, “soon” in the MMO world is very relative.

    To celebrate the big announcement, Bethesda also released a big trailer for the upcoming MMO. The trailer, called “The Alliances” is a nearly 6-minute cinematic tease for ZeniMax Online’s vision of a multiplayer Elder Scrolls experience.

  • Elder Scrolls MMO Trailer Dives Deep Into Lore

    There’s quite a bit of trepidation surrounding The Elder Scrolls Online, the upcoming MMO set in the world of the Elder Scrolls series. Though co-op gameplay was an frequently requested feature for Skyrim and Oblivion, throwing thousands of players together into Tamriel can seem like overcompensation for years without Elder Scrolls multiplayer. Also, fears that the normal MMO formula and quests will bury the extensive lore of the Elder Scrolls series are not without justification.

    Today, Bethesda released a preview trailer for Elder Scrolls Online that could reassure fans that the history of Tamriel will be well taken care of in the MMO. In the video, “Loremaster” Lawrence Schick describes just what the different factions in the game hope to gain from their all-out war.

    The three factions, the Aldmeri Dominion, the Daggerfall Covenant, and the Ebonheart Pact, are all fighting over Cyrodiil, the setting of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Cyrodiil is led by a family who has made a pact with the evil daedric lord Molag Bal and his powerful necromancer servant. The Daggerfall Covenant, according to Schick, feels it is its place to bring peace to Cyrodiil and Tamriel. The Ebonheart Pact seem to simply want to make sure Molag Bal can’t cause any trouble on Tamriel. The Aldmeri Dominion has a personal grudge against the humans, and believes the elves should rightfully rule Cyrodiil.

  • New Dishonored Screenshots Show a Decaying Empire

    In addition to the gameplay trailers Bethesda has been releasing to show off the various powers gamers will control in Dishonored, there have also been a steady stream of screenshots showing off the game’s setting. The city of Dunwall so far appears to be a dystopian steampunk nightmare, and the latest screenshots don’t disappoint.

    The screenshot above (which you can see a larger version of here) depicts what I hope are masked party-goers in front of a gigantic fish on a dining table. I suppose all gamers really need to know about the city of Dunwall can be summed up by that woman’s upside down baby-in-chains hat.

    Check out the rest of the screenshots below and prepare for Dishonored to hit stores in less than two months, on October 9th in the U.S.

    Dishonored screenshot 2

    Dishonored screenshot 3

    Dishonored screenshot 4

    Dishonored screenshot 5

    Dishonored screenshot 6

  • Elder Scrolls Online Announced, Coming To PC And Mac Next Year

    I’m going to be honest here – I hate MMOs. I find that they are derivative experiences that largely appeal to the lowest common denominator and more often than not tarnish a brand. That’s why I’m fuming today with the news that Bethesda is taking their storied Elder Scrolls franchise into the realm of MMOs.

    Game Informer revealed its June cover story today and with it the announcement that about gave me a heart attack in a very, very bad way. The Elder Scrolls Online is real and it will be coming our way on PC and Mac in 2013.

    The one shred of decency I have found is that the game will be developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and not Bethesda Game Studios proper. The developers claim that the game will merge the open-world exploration of the Elder Scrolls with the “scale and social aspects” of an MMO. I take that to mean that they’re going to move everybody to third-person and scale down the size of the world to fit all of Tamriel into it.

    At least the team seems to care about the lore of the Elder Scrolls. The game will be set a thousand years before the events of Skyrim with a plot ripped straight from Oblivion. Let’s just replace Mehrunes Dagon with Molag Bal and you have the story of Elder Scrolls Online. I’m sure it will do something to set itself apart, but MMOs have proven themselves to be horrid when it comes to storytelling instead focusing on letting players dance around villages while looking for a group of like minded adventurers.

    The Elder Scrolls Online development is being headed by Matt Firor, a man many in the MMO fanbase know from his work on Dark Age of Camelot. He at least tries to be comforting to an old man like myself saying that he and team are “committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise.” I hear you Firor, but I also heard the same thing being said by countless other directors as they took franchises into MMO mode and completely ruined them.

    Game Informer will be host to a teaser trailer tomorrow. They will also be updating the site all next week with screenshots and other goodies to tease players along as we descend into the underbelly of game development.

    You all might be thinking that I’m being a little harsh here. I am and I should give the guys at ZeniMax the benefit of the doubt when it comes to them transitioning one of my all time favorite franchises into the online realm. I don’t like subscription fees and I don’t like having to rely on others to get quests done. Moving to an MMO also greatly reduces the scope of a title from a game like Skyrim which makes you feel like a small man in a large world to every MMO that features disproportionately sized people with big heads in a world that looks as small as they are.

    I’ll try to reserve judgement until we see more of the game, but just know Bethesda, I’m not happy. Let’s see if Twitter agrees with my sentiment or if they’re too excited about dancing all over the Imperial City in their underwear to even care about the implications it holds for The Elder Scrolls proper.

    @ekfight
    David Stanich    Omg… Elder scrolls online… I have to go home and change my pants #elderscrolls 2 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @linen_socc
    Nathan Walters    Elder Scrolls Online? As much as I would like to see a multiplayer Elder Scrolls, have they learned NOTHING from Bioware and TORtanic? 2 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @xxGENEVIEVExx
    Jen Dingle    Whoa did I miss a big announcement on my lunch! The Elder Scrolls Online……oh man I’m screwed! I better save some vacation time. 3 minutes ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @astrosteve
    astrosteve    I’m very worried Elder Scrolls Online is going to be another WoW clone, like The Old Republic is. If they innovate, I’ll support it 100% 4 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @liamJLmoore
    Abed    Elder Scrolls Online: Better say my goodbyes to everyone I know because they won’t be seeing me after this is released. 5 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @richardcobbett
    Richard Cobbett    “In The Elder Scrolls Online, we’re going to take the experiences you love in RPGs like Skyrim and ruin it by adding idiots and assholes.” 4 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @devincf
    Devin Faraci    Elder Scrolls Online? Now you can wander grey/brown landscapes w/ minimal quests with the added value of getting griefed. 2 minutes ago via Twitter for Mac ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @UnMagicalCast
    UnMagical Podcast    Dear game companies, stop turning your great titles into shitty MMOs. I mean Elder Scrolls MMO? Really? 39 seconds ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @sandkatt
    Katie Ujihisa    With KOTOR and Elder Scrolls both going MMO that pretty much means the only decent WRPGs left are ones developed by Japanese companies. 1 minute ago via HootSuite ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @StephenKelly180
    Stephen Kelly    An Elder Scrolls MMO? Oh, don’t worry, they’re certainly not serious.That would be like making a Myst MMO! Wait. Uh… uh-oh. 37 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @AdamSessler
    Adam Sessler    Reactions to Elder Scrolls MMO – Me: Awesome. My Wife: packing my bags. 9 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

  • Shinji Mikami, Creator Of Resident Evil, Announces New Title

    Shinji Mikami is one of those people in the gaming industry that you just have to follow. After creating Resident Evil, he went on to make some of the most well-known, and not so well-known titles, of our generation. While his latest title, Shadows of the Damned, failed to ignite sales mostly due to EA’s non-existent marketing, it appears that Mikami still has some fight left in him.

    If you’ve been out of the loop for a while, Mikami is now executive producer of Tango Gameworks. Tango is one of the newest acquisitions of ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. It’s here that Mikami is working on his next title: a survival-horror game codenamed “Zwei.”

    Here’s what the official Tango Web site has to say about Zwei:

    Our latest project’s codename is “Zwei” and it is a survival horror game. The above image is a collage of different environments we put together for this announcement and is intended to give a feel for the tone and the direction the production is taking. (However, neither the code name nor the image is intended to tell you exactly what is in the game.)

    As a master of the ‘survival horror’ genre, Shinji Mikami is committed to making a game that is the realization of pure survival horror, an experience which he defines as one that pushes the limits of fear and exhilaration. He and his team at Tango are committed to attaining this vision.

    What’s most interesting is that Mikami is quoted at the bottom as saying that he’s striving for “pure survival-horror.” If that’s the case, count me as excited. While Mikami is no doubt a genius for revitalizing Resident Evil with the famous fourth installment, it’s the earlier titles that are really near and dear to my heart.

    While we don’t have anything to go off of yet, the team did provide the aforementioned collage of concept art. Here’s the collage in its entirety:

    Shinji Mikami Resident Evil New Title

    As you can see, the environments are fairly diverse. We have what looks like a watchtower over a village or maybe even a concentration camp, an old ship at a port and what looks like the inside of a submarine among other visuals. All I know is that it’s dark and brooding so I like it.

    What do you think of Mikami going back to survival horror? What do you think the concept art means? Let us know in the comments.

    [h/t: Bethesda Blog]

  • Prey 2 Not in Development Over Contract Dispute

    Yesterday Bethesda announced that Prey 2, the anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed Prey, was not cancelled, but had been delayed. The delay is indefinite, but we do know that it has been delayed past its original release window of sometime within 2012. The rumors of its cancellation were based in large part from the lack of news coming out about the title’s ongoing development. Today, we might just have an explanation for why no news has been forthcoming: the game actually hasn’t been in ongoing development.

    Shack News is reporting that Human Head Studios, the developer of Prey 2, has not been working on the game since last November. The site is basing the rumor on an anonymous source that “asked not to be identified.” According to that source, Human Head was unhappy with the contract it had with Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax Media. As a negotiation tactic, Human Head stopped development on the game. Some members of the Prey 2 development team were laid-off with the hope that they would return when contract negotiations were final. From the Shack News article:

    By March 1, the source said, things had progressed a bit, leaving the Prey 2 team hopeful that they would return to work soon. But that quickly soured the following day. The source could provide no further first-hand details after March 2.

    If true, this rumor would make Bethesda’s announcement yesterday that the game’s development “has not progressed satisfactorily this past year” and that the game currently does not “meet our quality standards” technically true, if a bit disingenuous. That announcement made it seem as if Prey 2 was still very much in the works.

    This is distressing news for Prey fans. Prey 2 being in development limbo might eventually mean an outright cancellationcan. Or, it could mean Zenimax and Bethesda abandon Human head for another developer, which wouldn’t bode well for the title’s final quality upon release. If nothing else, Prey fans will have to wait a long while to see a sequel.

  • “FUS RO DAH” Trademarked by ZeniMax Media

    We all know, or should know, the pleasure of FUS RO DAH-ing a frost troll off High Hrothgar. Now ZeniMax Media is trademarking the famous dragon shout.

    In several trademark applications filed on April 4th ZeniMax Media, Inc., the parent company of Bethesda, the game development studio which created The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, filed multiple trademarks for the words “FUS RO DAH” for use on just about any merchandise that it could conceivably be printed on.

    The six patents filed each cover specific types of merchandise:

    • Toys and action figures; playing cards, dice, and board games; bobble-head dolls; sporting equipment
    • Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line interactive computer games and providing information relating to electronic computer games via the internet
    • Computer game software for use with computers and video game consoles; downloadable computer game software offered via the internet and wireless devices; cell phone cases; downloadable cell phone ringtones; digital tablet cases; smart phone cases; mouse pads; eyeglass cases; head phones
    • Computer and video game user instruction manuals; magazines, books, and pamphlets concerning video games; computer and video game strategy guide books and magazines; trading cards, maps, posters, advertisement boards of paper or cardboard, art prints
    • Bags, namely, backpacks, duffel bags, knapsacks, book bags, athletic bags, and cosmetic bags, sold empty
    • Clothing, namely, T-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts, fleece pullovers; headwear, namely, hats

    Will we see any of this merchandise in the near future, or is ZeniMax just covering its bases and making sure nobody else is making money off of their products? I, for one, would love to see a Skyrim board game or table-top RPG. Or a dragon-shouting Dovahkiin action figure with interchangeable duel-wield weapons and collectible dragon bones.

    It’s understandable that ZeniMax and Bethesda would want to lock this trademark down so that they can market all types of Skyrim merchandise using the famous phrase. However, the dragon shout itself has entered pop culture in a big way since Skyrim’s release last year, and the game’s fan base has really claimed the shout as its own. Here’s hoping ZeniMax doesn’t use its new trademarks to tamp down on creative projects such as this one, posted to YouTube by Corridor Digital: