By Kieron Gillen on May 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm.
K.i.s.s.i.n.g. Or, rather, d.e.v.e.l.o.p.i.n.g. News just reaches us that Oblivion-types Bethesda and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars-tykes Splash Damage have formed a bond in blood to develop a game in a ” long-term development partnership”. There’s absolutely no details yet, but with Splash Damage’s pedigree as a multiplayer FPS developer, you have to presume something in that area. Maybe they’ve worked out a way to outrage Fallout fans even more by making Fallout 4 a Shadowrun-esque FPS? Well, I suspect not.
Only extra info out there is that Splash Damage’s site notes the game is for PC and the not-PCs. Full press release beneath the cut, if you want to scour for clues.
Bethesda Softworks Announces Development Partnership with Splash Damage
May 22, 2008 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today a long-term development partnership with the award-winning U.K. studio, Splash Damage™.
Splash Damage has been recognized by the industry for the quality of its titles and particularly for its skill in creating cutting-edge multiplayer games. The studio has received numerous accolades and awards for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory™, including Game of the Year nods from GameSpy, IGN, and PC Format. Their latest game, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™, won over 80 Editors’ Choice, E3, Most Wanted, and Game of the Year awards and nominations.
Bethesda Softworks continues to expand its development and publishing reach, with investments in a library of AAA titles and the opening of new offices in Europe and Japan in the past year. Best known for its 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, Bethesda has in development a number of compelling titles, including the highly-anticipated Fallout® 3 due in Fall 2008.
“Bethesda Softworks has repeatedly been responsible for outstanding games as both publisher and developer.” said Paul Wedgwood, Owner and Creative Director of Splash Damage. “Both of our studios share a passion for creating great games, and we’re confident that this partnership will result in even greater experiences for gamers. We’re really looking forward to working with Bethesda.”
“This could not be a more perfect fit,” said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. “We are extremely impressed with Splash Damage and the quality titles they produce. They are highly creative and innovative, and have demonstrated a high level of dedication to their projects. We are confident that gamers everywhere will be thrilled with the offerings from this collaboration.”
More details about Splash Damage’s brand-new project will be provided in the coming months. For more information on Bethesda Softworks, visit www.bethsoft.com. For more information on Splash Damage, visit www.splashdamage.com.
Mmmmh, a Star Trek MMOFPS maybe?
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Last time a team tried to create a Fallout spinoff (ie FOBOS), Interplay almost went under.
I applaud the courage of (and shake my head at) anyone who dares to even touch the “as-good-as-holy” Fallout brand with a ten foot pole.
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I just assumed Bethesda/ZeniMax is looking to expand its publishing activities, and that’s what this is about. Not so much anything to do with any of Bethesda’s IP, that’d be.
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always get a kick out of seeing splash damage doing well after gibbing a few of them in my qwtf days.
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Possibly for developing multi-player components for some of Bethesda’s IPs?
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I actually suspect None is on the money here.
KG
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If Splash Damages future games start using the Gamebryo engine (a fav of Bethesda) instead of ID’s Tech engine I’d say thats a sign they are moving closer.
Splash Damage was one of the umbrella studios of ID so the loss of publishing duties from parent Activision could be a sign of something, was Quake Wars a success I’m guessing no ?
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Agreed with None (for once ;)) . I’m not seeing a Fallout MMO, the market is already way too saturated and the step up to play hideously expensive with no guarantee of commercial long term success. Albeit there is an ever growing number of people playing Wow, convincing them to leave the comfort of it for your game is the problem. The MMO space is like TV ratings, your chasing the same audience. Plus the creature comforts normally found in an MMO, friends lists, global chat, near insta travel everywhere and lot’s of other players nearby, kind of are at odds with the idea of tough, rugged Post-Apoc wasteland where one lives hand to mouth to survive another day. Personally I look forward to the day that such an MMO emerges, but I suspect I’ll have a long wait (unless someone has $100 million they can front me for development ;)).
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Well it’s being done, by the new Interplay, with Jason Anderson, from the original Fallout crew heading operations.
Now will it ever be released? That’s another story.
There was a multiplayer mod for Half Life called “The Wastes”, very inspired in Fallout, that was rather pleasant to play, although never got really finished.
I think the guys that are making a Quake 3 engine first person exploration and turn based combat Fallout inspired game had ideas for an MP portion, but I may be wrong, BN may know that.
Now the idea of a Shadowrun styled game, not only a Fallout one, just leaves me with one comment:
aaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!
So this is the first move from ZenimaxEurope, based in London? Good start, I suppose.
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Given Interplays financial state I’d say there’s more chance of me waking up tomorrow with Scarlett Johansson on one side and Evangeline Lilly on the other (there’s always hope). The inherent problem with Post-apoc is that unlike Sci-fi or Fantasy it’s a genre set within a world we know/are familar with. Where as it’s easy to constrain a player in a sci-fi or fantasy environment with little difficulty (they tend to accept what you give them), it’s not to plausible to do so in a real world one. Short of remapping the entire world, where do you stop, without having to contrive endless means of containment (radiation fields, impossible to scale mountains, unsalable seas, etc etc). Plus the whole post-apoc environment calls for two things, small cluster towns and enormous amounts of desolate wasteland in between. It’s an asset nightmare.
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“Maybe they’ve worked out a way to outrage Fallout fans even more by making Fallout 4 a Shadowrun-esque FPS?”
Quiet! They’ll hear you! Don’t even joke about that!
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Kadayi – Why would want to wake up to that? Me, I’d prefer to *BE* awake. :)
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