ZeniMax acquires VR specialists Escalation Studios

ZeniMax has acquired Texas-based mobile and console games outfit Escalation Studios.

The Bethesda parent has worked with Escalation before, most notably on the SnapMap editor that exists within id Software's Doom game. The firm will continue to work on a number of projects for other ZeniMax developers, across all platforms. This includes VR, with Escalation having created a number of VR projects including Please Don't Touch Anything VR, NCAA March Madness VR and Herobound: Gladiators.

Bethesda has already announced a VR project in the form of Fallout 4, with a Doom VR demo also available. Although its most high-profile involvement in VR comes in the form of its $4bn lawsuit against Oculus, with ZeniMax claiming that the firm used code that it owned.

Escalation was set-up in 2007 by Tom Mustaine and Marc Tardif, and has experience working on mobile, PC and console.

Bethesda's VP of development Todd Vaughn said: "We have continually been impressed with the team at Escalation that Tom and Marc have assembled. Their commitment to quality and innovation has made significant contributions to the projects we've worked on together, and we're excited to have them join ZeniMax."

Tardif said it was an 'honour' to join ZeniMax, while Mustaine added: "We can't wait to see what the studio is capable of with the support of such a great company as ZeniMax."