ZeniMax confirms MachineGames pickup

Last week, Swedish business records revealed that ZeniMax Media had acquired Uppsala-based MachineGames, a fledgling development house started by the founders of Chronicles of Riddick maker Starbreeze Studios. While all parties kept quiet about the acquisition at the time, ZeniMax today officially confirmed its latest pickup. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

For its first project, MachineGames will be working on a new "AAA" title using id Tech 5, the game engine behind id Software's upcoming Rage. It will also serve as the technology behind the long-awaited Doom 4.

MachineGames is the latest in a string of notable acquisitions for ZeniMax. This year has already seen the company acquire Arkane Studios and Shinji Mikami's Tango GameWorks to fill out a roster of studios also including Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls maker Bethesda Game Studios, as well as Doom and Quake developer id Software. 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.