Id bossman Todd Hollenshead has explained to VG247 what the “failure” of the in-game advertising model means for Quake Live. He stated that the closure of ad firm Massive – which MS shut down earlier this year – has caused Id to rethink: “I mean, smarter people than me were making these estimations. Look at Microsoft. They spent, like, $200 million on the Massive acquisition, and they basically shuttered that division in February. So that had ramifications for us, because we used Massive. And if that was more successful, that’d have had a significant impact on what Quake Live is.”

It’s not over for the reborn Quake III, however, as Id are now experimenting with subscriptions and video-ads: “The game is an entertainment success, so now we have to figure out how to make the business model work.” And with no hats, how’s a company to make a profit? Eh?

Id’s bossman Todd Hollenshead (pictured above, thinking about stuff) has conducted a huge interview with internet newshounds VG247. In it they cover a bunch of stuff about Id, Rage, and the Bethesda deal. They also mention that there’s likely to be a demo for Rage, but no multiplayer beta. The most interesting points elucidate about about Rage, explaining how it’s an action game (and a “directed” open world) with some extra bits added on. Hollenshead also explains that the previous Id project – named “Darkness” – was cancelled due to changes in the tech. “We really didn’t expect the ability to have the massive texturing and the outdoor environments,” says Hollenshead, “the game wasn’t designed or conceived to take advantage of that. So we were like, ‘Not taking advantage of this technology would be a shame.’” All of which sounds like the megatexture stuff that Carmack came up with for the Quake Wars guys has ended up allowing Id themselves to move away from the corridor-shooter. What is that going to mean for Doom 4? Well, that’s left answered. Lots me through the link, anyway, so go read.

Browsing Quarter-to-three, I discover that Tom “Tom Bramwell” Bramwell’s interview with John Carmack and Todd Hollenshead has caused a little internet drama, picked up by 1UP. To paraphrase, Hollenshead argued that PC manufacturers secretly like that there’s piracy on the PCs, as it’s something which makes people buy PCs. After all, unlike console manufacturers, they don’t make any more profit if people actually buy games or not.

Which left Jim and I a little bewildered on a couple of points.
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