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Bethesda Softworks

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Bethesda Softworks, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary of ZeniMax Media
IndustryComputer and video games
Founded1986[1]
FounderChristopher Weaver Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersRockville, 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
ProductsThe Elder Scrolls, Fallout 3
ParentZeniMax Media
Websitehttp://www.bethsoft.com/

Bethesda Softworks, LLC, is an American video game company. A subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, 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 Softworks[5] – it was later announced that any games using the new id Tech 5 game engine be published by them.

Bethesda Game Studios

File:BethesdaGameStudios.JPG
Bethesda Game Studios

Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) is the in-house development team led by Todd Howard. In the past, not all BGS titles were published by the Softworks division; however, beginning with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on PlayStation 3, Bethesda Softworks has published all Bethesda Game Studios titles to date.

Notable games

Main article: List of Bethesda Softworks games

Released


Upcoming

See also

References

  1. ^ "Company Profile". ZeniMax Media. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  2. ^ ZeniMax Media Receives $300 Million Investment from Providence Equity Partners
  3. ^ Walker, Jeff (1989). "Wayne Gretzky Hockey". Amiga Computing. 2 (4). Retrieved 2007-06-09. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Kennedy, John (1989). "It is the Orangeblobs v. the Blackblobs: GRIDIRON!". Amiga Computing. Retrieved 2007-06-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "ZeniMax Media Acquires id Software". Reuters.com. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
  6. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (7 July 2011). "Bethesda announces Dishonored". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
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