Swedish business records indicate Machinegames is the latest indie developer to be scooped up by Bethesda and id parent company; shop home to several Riddick vets.

ZeniMax media has been on a tear of acquisitions of late, buying up Arx Fatalis creator Arkane Studios in August and Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami's Tango Gameworks last month. Now, according to a Gamasutra report, the Maryland-based media company may have scooped up another studio.

Machinegames may be ZeniMax's latest acquisition.

Sparked by Twitter chatter, the report found Swedish business records which indicated that the indie studio Machineworks has had its named changed to ZeniMax Sweden AB. The name change presumably came from a buyout of the indie shop, which was founded in 2009 by Starbreeze co-founder Magnus Hogdahl and other members of the Chronicles of Riddick development team. According to its bare-bones Web site, "Machinegames is a developer of exciting AAA titles for next-gen platforms."

As of press time, requests for confirmation of the buyout sent to both ZeniMax and Machinegames had not been answered. However, if true, the purchase would bring even more talent into the ZeniMax fold, which already includes such major names as id Software (Doom 4, Rage) and Bethesda Softworks (Fallout 3, the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion). The company also has an online division currently working on an unnamed massively multiplayer project, and recently received $150 million in funding from a private equity company.

[source - gamespot]

I'm interested in seeing what they can do with Arkane Studios. They've produced some good ideas and games, but could use the polish that a huge parent company like Zenimax could provide.

Here's more about the acquisition of Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks.

"Zenimax today announced acclaimed game designer and director, Shinji Mikami, has joined ZeniMax in a deal where ZeniMax acquired Tango Gameworks, the development shop founded and run by Mikami. Best known as the creator of the Resident Evil series, Mikami is a 20-year veteran of the industry who has developed numerous award-winning titles.

“It’s refreshing to find a publisher who understands, trusts, and supports the development of blockbuster games and works to make it a collaborative effort,” said Mikami. “The library of AAA franchise titles ZeniMax owns speaks for itself. We are very excited to be joining ZeniMax and working with a company that is dedicated to creating the best games ever made.”

Based in Tokyo, Mikami has an extraordinary track record as one of the world’s most successful game developers. Five of his projects, including Resident Evil, have scored 90 or above on Metacritic.com and Gamerankings.com.

The development studio Mikami founded, Tango Gameworks, is dedicated to AAA multi-platform game development and has attracted some of Japan’s most accomplished and experienced developers who served key roles on game franchises like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Final Fantasy. Tango will continue to be run by Shinji Mikami, and he will serve as the creative lead for all future projects.

“Shinji Mikami has earned a stellar reputation as one of the industry’s finest game developers,” said Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax Media. “He has repeatedly created hit titles that have earned praise from fans and critics around the world. We share his vision for innovative, genre-defining games and look forward to working with Shinji and his team at Tango.”

Tango joins a distinguished group of development studios at ZeniMax that includes Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, and Arkane Studios. This most recent acquisition reflects Bethesda Softworks’ unwavering commitment to delivering premier titles to gamers worldwide."

[source - GeekRelated]

Imagine future RE titles made with IDTech5.

This is how it's meant to be done. Not with hostile acquisitions and restructuring. Acquire an already great company and give them room to do even better.

"We are excited to create a new AAA title for gamers on id Tech 5 that will push the game development envelope.”

MachineGames is currently working on an unannounced project using the id Tech 5 engine (also seen in next year’s RAGE)."

CEO and Executive Producer Jerk Gustafsson of MachineGames, recently acquired by Zenimax/Bethesda.

Already new games being made with idTech 5. This is exciting.