Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Predecessor | Media Technology Limited |
Founded | 1999 |
Founders | |
Headquarters | , US |
Key people | James L. Leder (CEO) |
Total equity | US$2.5 billion (2016) |
Number of employees | 2,300+ (2020) |
Parent | Xbox Game Studios (2021–2023) Microsoft Gaming (2023–present) |
Subsidiaries | |
Website | zenimax.com |
Footnotes /references [1] [2] |
ZeniMax Media Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1999 by Christopher Weaver and Robert A. Altman as the parent company for Weaver's video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. The company additionally owns the development studios Bethesda Game Studios ( The Elder Scrolls , Fallout, and Starfield), id Software ( Doom , Quake , and Rage ), Arkane Studios ( Dishonored , Prey , and Redfall ), MachineGames ( Wolfenstein ), and ZeniMax Online Studios ( The Elder Scrolls Online ). Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for $8.1 billion in March 2021 and operates it under the Microsoft Gaming division.
Christopher Weaver, the founder of the video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, and Robert A. Altman, a lawyer, founded ZeniMax Media in 1999. [3] The name is a portmanteau of "zenith" and "maximum". [4] The company was established to succeed Media Technology Limited as the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. Weaver brought Altman onboard as the chief executive officer, contributing his stock in Bethesda Softworks so that ZeniMax Media would be able to obtain funding. Weaver served as the chief technology officer from 1999 to 2002, when he moved into a non-executive role. Later that year, he filed a lawsuit against ZeniMax, alleging breach of contract and claiming he was owed US$1.2 million in severance pay. [5] [6] By February 2007, Weaver only held a 33% stake in the company, [6] which by 2020 had been reduced to "a pittance of the stock". [7]
Among the original board members were Harry E. Sloan, [8] Les Moonves, [9] and Robert Trump. [10] In 2000, SBS Broadcasting Group, operated by Sloan, acquired a 12.5% stake in ZeniMax as part of a partnership between the two companies. [8] Among the partnerships between the companies, ZeniMax's subsidiary e-Nexus Studios developed entertainment portals and websites for SBS. [11] [12] In the same year, Terry McAuliffe, George Mitchell, Dean Devlin, and Jon Feltheimer joined ZeniMax as advisors. [13] The company acquired the Fallout franchise from Interplay Entertainment in 2004. [14]
In August 2007, ZeniMax announced the formation of the studio ZeniMax Online Studios, led by Matt Firor. [15] In October, after ProSiebenSat.1 Media purchased SBS Broadcasting Group and inherited its stake in ZeniMax Media, now 9% of the shares, ProSiebenSat.1 Media announced it would intensify its relationship with ZeniMax. The company launched SevenGames.com, the international edition of its German-language game platform, in December and worked with ZeniMax to develop online games. [16] [17] [18] In the same year, Providence Equity Partners bought a 25% stake in ZeniMax for $300 million. [19] [20] [21] ZeniMax had 200 employees in October 2007. [22] It acquired the Prey and Rage franchise in 2009. [23] [24] After Providence Equity Partners invested another $150 million for an undisclosed stake in 2010, [25] [26] the company grew to 400 employees by January 2011. [27] ZeniMax subsequently announced a partnership with the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts to support its Interactive Media Division with a comprehensive educational program of guest lectures and internships. [28]
In May 2014, ZeniMax sent a letter to Facebook and its Oculus VR subsidiary, asserting that any contributions John Carmack made to the Oculus Rift project were the intellectual property of ZeniMax, stating that "ZeniMax provided necessary VR technology and other valuable assistance to Palmer Luckey and other Oculus employees in 2012 and 2013 to make the Oculus Rift a viable VR product, superior to other VR market offerings." The company filed a lawsuit against Oculus VR later that month. [29] [30] In June, Oculus VR filed a response to the lawsuit, stating that ZeniMax was falsely claiming ownership to take advantage of its acquisition by Facebook. Oculus VR also claimed that the Oculus Rift did not share any code or technology with ZeniMax's. [31] [32] A jury ruled in favor of ZeniMax in February 2017. They found that, while Oculus VR had not misappropriated ZeniMax's trade secrets, it had violated ZeniMax's copyrights and trademarks in addition to a non-disclosure agreement. ZeniMax was awarded $500 million. [33] [34] In the meantime, ProSiebenSat.1 Media had sold its stake in ZeniMax back to the company for €30 million. [35] [36]
In September 2020, Microsoft announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax and its subsidiaries for $7.5 billion. [37] [38] [39] For Providence Equity Partners, the deal represented a six-time return on investment. [22] Altman had considered selling ZeniMax for several years and at one point was close to a deal with rival Electronic Arts. [40] Prior the deal's closure, he died on February 3, 2021, aged 73, at a Baltimore hospital. [41] The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission greenlit the acquisition in March 2021. [42] [43] A preliminary injunction to block the acquisition was being sought in a class-action lawsuit that ZeniMax faced over Fallout 4 , with the plaintiffs arguing that Microsoft could shield ZeniMax's assets from damages should it be found liable after the acquisition. [44] Microsoft announced the completion of the acquisition on March 9, 2021. [45] The final cost of the transaction was $8.1 billion. [46] ZeniMax's board of directors was consequently dissolved. [47]
300 QA testers, a majority at ZeniMax Studios voted to unionize as ZeniMax Workers United-CWA in January 2023. This follows the unionization efforts of QA testers at Activision Blizzard which was also acquired by Microsoft. [48] In 2024, Microsoft signed a labor-neutrality agreement with CWA union, agreeing not to interfere with unionization efforts in any ZeniMax Media subsidiaries. [49]
In May 2024, Microsoft announced the impending closures of the ZeniMax studios Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Tango Gameworks, as well as Roundhouse Studios' absorption into ZeniMax Online Studios. [50] In July 2024, over 200 Bethesda Game Studios employees unionized with CWA. The wall-to-wall unit was recognized by Microsoft, and includes artists, engineers, programmers, and designers. [51] In August 2024, Krafton agreed to buy Tango Gameworks, preventing its closure. [52]
Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited. In 1999, it became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its first 15 years, it was a video game developer and self-published its titles. In 2001, Bethesda spun off its in-house development team into Bethesda Game Studios, leaving Bethesda Softworks to focus on publishing operations.
Xbox Game Studios is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, other desktop operating systems, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, web-based portals, and other game consoles.
Arkane Studios SASU is a French video game developer based in Lyon. It was founded in 1999, and released its first game, Arx Fatalis, in 2002. Besides the Lyon studio, Arkane Lyon, Arkane Studios operated Arkane Studios LLC in Austin, Texas, from July 2006 until its closure in May 2024. The studio has created the popular Dishonored series as well as developing Prey (2017), Deathloop (2021) and Redfall (2023). Marvel's Blade is under development.
Robert Alan Altman was an American lawyer and video game executive. He worked as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and was involved in a scandal surrounding the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. In 1999, he and Christopher Weaver founded ZeniMax Media as the parent holding company for Bethesda Softworks, a video game developer Weaver had founded earlier. Altman served as ZeniMax Media's chief executive officer and chairman until his death. He was also a member of the advisory board of the George Washington University Law School.
Bethesda Game Studios is an American video game developer and a studio of ZeniMax Media based in Rockville, Maryland. It is best known for its action role-playing franchises, including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield. Bethesda Game Studios opened in 2001 as the development unit of Bethesda Softworks, separating from publishing operations. Todd Howard serves as the studio's executive producer, leading it with managing director Ashley Cheng and studio director Angela Browder. As of November 2023, Bethesda Game Studios had 450 employees.
Prey is a 2017 first-person shooter video game developed by Arkane Austin and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on May 5, 2017.
ZeniMax Online Studios LLC is an American video game developer and a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, specializing in massively multiplayer online games. The company developed The Elder Scrolls Online and its downloadable content. ZeniMax Online Studios had around 250 employees in 2012. In addition to the main Hunt Valley, Maryland based office, ZeniMax Online also maintains a satellite studio in Budapest, Hungary as well as a customer support center in Galway, Ireland.
MachineGames Sweden AB is a Swedish video game developer based in Uppsala. The studio was founded in 2009 by seven former employees of Starbreeze Studios, including founder Magnus Högdahl. After unsuccessfully pitching game ideas to several publishers, MachineGames agreed with Bethesda Softworks to develop an entry in the Wolfenstein series in July 2010 and was acquired by Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, in November. In the Wolfenstein series, MachineGames developed The New Order (2014), The Old Blood (2015), The New Colossus (2017), Youngblood (2019), and Cyberpilot (2019). The studio is developing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024) as well as another Wolfenstein game.
Tango Gameworks is a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. Founded in March 2010 by Shinji Mikami, previously of Capcom, the company was acquired by ZeniMax Media in October that year after suffering financial issues.
Reality Labs, formerly Oculus VR, is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as the Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon Worlds. In June 2022, several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives that were previously a part of Meta AI were transitioned to Reality Labs. This also includes Meta's fundamental AI Research laboratory FAIR which is now part of the Reality Labs - Research (RLR) division.
Prey 2 was a cancelled first-person shooter video game to be published by Bethesda Softworks and planned as a sequel to the 2006 video game Prey.
The Elder Scrolls VI is an upcoming action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It will be the sixth main installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following 2011's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game is expected to be released for Windows and Xbox consoles, in "2026 or later".
Creations is a system of microtransactions designed by Bethesda Game Studios for its games Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition and Starfield . The system was launched for Fallout 4 on August 29, 2017.
Krafton Inc. is a South Korean video game publisher and holding company based in Bundang District, Seongnam. It was created in November 2018 to serve as the parent company for Bluehole, founded by Chang Byung-gyu in Seoul in March 2007, and its subsidiaries. The company has published several notable video game titles including TERA, PUBG: Battlegrounds, New State Mobile,The Callisto Protocol and Moonbreaker. According to Forbes, Chang has a net worth of $2.9 billion and is one of the seven gaming billionaires in South Korea.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is a 2022 action-adventure game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is directed by Kenji Kimura, who also co-wrote the narrative with Syoji Ishimine and Seiji Ebihara. The story is set in a fictionalized interpretation of Tokyo, Japan that has been overrun by supernatural entities unleashed on the city by an occultist. The player character, a boy named Akito who was fatally injured in a car crash, is found and possessed by a spirit who imbues him with several abilities, allowing him to fight against the specters, investigate the disappearances of Tokyo's population, and save his family.
Dishonored is a series of action-adventure games developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The franchise started in 2012 with Dishonored. A sequel, Dishonored 2 was released in 2016. A standalone expansion to Dishonored 2, Death of the Outsider, was released in 2017. A follow-up which takes place in the same universe, Deathloop was released in 2021.
The film industry and video game industry have a long and detailed common history – the two industries have collaborated many times since the 1980s. This includes collaboration between people from both industries and projects resulting in products such as video games, film adaptations of video games, among other things.
ZeniMax Halifax Ltd. was a Canadian mobile video game developer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The company was acquired by ZeniMax Media in October 2019.
Hi-Fi Rush is a 2023 rhythm-based action game developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game's story follows self-proclaimed "future rock star" Chai, whose music player is accidentally embedded in his chest during experimental cybernetic surgery, allowing him to rhythmically fight and re-perceive the world through environmental synesthesia. Labelled a "defect" and hunted by the corporation that transformed him, Chai bands together with new friends to defeat the company's executives and put a stop to their plans.
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