id won't create new IP for Bethesda

Bethesda has told GamesIndustry.biz that the recently purchased developer id Software won't be creating new games or developing titles based on any intellectual properties owned by the publisher.

ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda, swooped for the Doom creator last month, fuelling speculation the developer could be creating original games for Bethesda, or working on its brands, which include Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.

"id has plenty of their own IP to keep themselves busy," said Pete Hines, global VP of marketing for the company. "It was their desire to build to three teams and bring the development of their IP in-house. So we'll help them build up to the three full teams a little faster, now that they have additional resources, and they'll work on Rage and Doom 4 and whatever else it is they'd like to do."

"But with Quake, Doom, Wolfenstein, and Rage, they already have more IP than they have teams to work on them. So right now creating new IP or having them work on our Bethesda IP isn't even being considered."

Hines said that adding a specialist first-person development team strengthens the company, but it won't stop the publisher working with and releasing first-person titles from other external developers.

"It gives us an internal studio with that kind expertise. And not just any studio, but id. These are the guys that invented first-person shooters, and are continuing to push the boundaries with their tech and ideas. You want people like that working with you and a part of your internal development capacity."

"It doesn't mean we won't continue to look at third party folks to work with, like the relationship we have with Splash Damage, but it gives us internal expertise that will be invaluable," continued Hines.

"We do have a strong portfolio with games like Oblivion and Fallout, and the folks at Bethesda Game Studios will continue to work on those, but these games aren't the same kinds of games that id makes. So there's room for them all," he added.