Doom helpers Escalation Studios join ZeniMax

ZeniMax Media have bought Escalation Studios, the texan mob who most recently chipped in on the cracking new Doom. Escalation join a lineup which includes, among others, the Elder Scrolls and Fallout mob of Bethesda, the Dishonored devs Arkane, the Doomlords and Quakers at id Software, nu-Wolfenstein gang MachineGames, Evil Within devs crew Tango Gameworks, and- strewth, that's quite a stable! ZeniMax don't mention any particular projects but coo, I wonder what they're up to.

Escalation have made a fair few mobile games, including mobile VR games, but they've also worked on stuff like Doom and Rage. Escalation co-founder Tom Mustaine previously co-founded Ritual Entertainment, the studio behind Sin and Star Trek: Elite Force II, so first-person face-shooting is in their guts. Their nuDoom work focused on SnapMap, its editor.

ZeniMax don't say how much they paid but that's hardly civil conversation now, is it?

"Their commitment to quality and innovation has made significant contributions to the projects we've worked on together, and we're excited to have them join ZeniMax," Todd Vaughn, Bethesda's vice president of development, said in today's announcement.

ZeniMax say that Escalation "is currently working on a number of projects with studios throughout the ZeniMax family and will continue to contribute its talents across PC, console, mobile and VR titles going forward." Mysterious!