The acquisition marries id Software's first person shooter (FPS) technology with ZeniMax's role playing games (RPG) Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda Softworks, a subsidiary of ZeniMax, will now publish the id Software titles and upcoming releases that were previously committed to other publishers.
id Software will continue to operate as a studio headed by its founder, John Carmack, who will act as technical director. The companies said there will not be any changes in id Software's game development.
"Our intention is to make sure id Software will continue to do what they do best -- make AAA games," said Robert Altman, founder, chairman and CEO of ZeniMax, in a statement. "Our role will be to provide publisher support through Bethesda Softworks and give id Software the resources it needs to grow and expand."
To be sure, the merger will create a gaming juggernaut. ZeniMax's Bethesda Game Studios created Fallout 3, which won more than 60 Game of the Year awards in 2008. Bethesda is also responsible for developing two of the 10 best-selling games of all time, Fallout 3 and Oblivion, on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms, according to industry scoring system researchers at gamingrankers.com.