Bethesda Softworks
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary of ZeniMax Media |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1986[1] |
| Founder | Christopher Weaver  |
| Headquarters | Rockville, Maryland, U.S (Previously Bethesda, Maryland) |
Key people | Vlatko Andonov, President Todd Vaughn, VP Development Pete Hines, VP PR & Marketing Ron Seger, VP Sales Todd Howard, Executive Producer and Game Director Ashley Cheng, Production Director |
| Products | The Elder Scrolls, Fallout 3 |
| Parent | ZeniMax Media |
| Website | http://www.bethsoft.com/ |
Bethesda Softworks, LLC, a ZeniMax Media Company, is an American developer and publisher of video games. The company was originally based in Bethesda, Maryland and eventually moved to their current location in Rockville, Maryland. Consisting of a broad portfolio of games in role-playing, racing, simulation, and sports, Bethesda Softworks' major franchises are distributed worldwide.
History
Bethesda Softworks has been a developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content for over two decades. Founded in 1986 by Christopher Weaver in Bethesda, Maryland and moved to Rockville, Maryland in 1990, the company has a long history of PC and console games. In 1998, Weaver decided to expand the company beyond PC games and into multimedia and invited Robert A. Altman to help manage the budding company. Weaver and Altman co-founded ZeniMax Media Inc. in 1999.[2]
Bethesda is credited with the creation of the first physics-based sports simulation (Gridiron!) in 1986 for the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga and Commodore 64/128. Early games scored respectably in the gaming press, earning accolades as "the most accurate and enjoyable simulation of a sport I have ever had the pleasure to play", "the best ice hockey sim yet", for Wayne Gretzky Hockey.[3][4] The company is best known for creating The Elder Scrolls RPG series, based upon the original programming of Julian Lefay. The first chapter of the series, entitled The Elder Scrolls: Arena, was released in 1994. Since that time, numerous other chapters have been released. The game's direct sequels, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion, were released in 1996, 2002, and 2006, respectively; a fifth game, Skyrim is scheduled to be released in November 2011. Additionally, the game has had three spin-offs: Battlespire (1997), Redguard, (1998) and The Elder Scrolls Travels: Shadowkey (2004). Bethesda is also known for publishing titles based upon popular movie franchises, including The Terminator, Star Trek, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
In 2004, the Fallout franchise was acquired by from Interplay Productions and the development of Fallout 3 was handed over to Bethesda Game Studios. Fallout 3 was released on October 28, 2008. Five Downloadable Content Packs for Fallout 3 were released in the year following its release—Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta.
Bethesda continues to expand their publishing into new franchises. In 2009, Bethesda released WET and Rogue Warrior, in 2010 Obsidian Entertainment's new Fallout title, Fallout: New Vegas was published and Splash Damage's Brink was released in May 2011. Hunted: The Demon's Forge, a fantasy action game developed by inXile Entertainment was released on May 31, 2011. On June 24, 2009, Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, acquired id Software, whose titles, including RAGE, will be published by Bethesda SoftworksCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
- The Crossing (on hold)
- Fallout 4 (only mentioned)
See also
References
- ^ "Company Profile". ZeniMax Media. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
- ^ ZeniMax Media Receives $300 Million Investment from Providence Equity Partners
- ^ Walker, Jeff (1989). "Wayne Gretzky Hockey". Amiga Computing. 2 (4). Retrieved 2007-06-09.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Kennedy, John (1989). "It is the Orangeblobs v. the Blackblobs: GRIDIRON!". Amiga Computing. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
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External links
- Bethesda Softworks' official website
- Bethesda Game Studios
- ZeniMax Media Inc.
- UESP on Bethesda – The UESPWiki article on Bethesda
- The Elder Scrolls official website
- Bethesda Softworks' profile on MobyGames
- Moby Games – Contains a brief bio and games credit list for Bethesda founder Christopher Weaver