Bethesda parent fathers MMOG publisher

Newly formed ZeniMax Online Studios to be headed up by Matt Firor and will focus on online gaming.

ZeniMax Media Company, the parent of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion creator Bethesda Softworks, has set up another company in its stable. Called ZeniMax Online Studios, the focus of the new entity will be massively multiplayer online games.

Veteran MMO producer Matt Firor has been hired to head up ZeniMax Online. Firor, one of the founders of Mythic Entertainment, has worked for over 10 years on MMOs, including the Dark Age of Camelot, Godzilla Online, and Aliens Online. In 2006, Firor left Mythic to set up Ultra Mega Games, an online-gaming consultancy company.

James Leder, COO of ZeniMax Media, commented, "We are excited about the opportunities we have in the online gaming space."

63 Comments

  • Gimmy54

    Posted Aug 3, 2009 1:00 pm PT

    An elder scrolls MMO would ruin The Elder Scrolls, why? TES is heralded for its deepness and customization. You can't have thousands of Dark Brotherhood listeners, can you?

  • Head_Psychosis

    Posted May 23, 2009 4:49 am PT

    Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was very overrated. I finished all main quests, but I was bored by the end of it. The customization was just overkill, and for a massive fan of RPG's (of the Worldy and "J" variety) it was a big letdown. For anyone who hasn't played Might and Magic: Dark Messiah, that's how Oblivion should have been. That game was just amazingly fun, and original, and so intuitive to different styles of play. If they were to make an MMORPG based on Oblivion, i think i'll stop playing Bethesda games. (Fallout 3 was a refreshing take on an old classic franchise)but, Oblivion IMO = Fail.

  • Biz3rkSam

    Posted Feb 24, 2009 3:17 pm PT

    This game would be too awsome. However still disappointed with Bethseda for neglecting Canadien gamers. Hellllllooooo over half the video game developing industry in northamerica is in CANADA!

  • Ozzza

    Posted May 29, 2008 9:07 am PT

    It's good that they have a guy from Dark Age of Camelot, which is the best MMORPG out there (perhaps until Age of Conan and WAR Online).

  • Flying-Eagle

    Posted Nov 2, 2007 6:26 pm PT

    Hmmm... I hope this news is true. It'll Be nice to have another MMORPG on the block. No pay monthly please .

  • austinrj06

    Posted Oct 25, 2007 5:48 pm PT

    i came up with alot of ideas for an elder scrolls mmo the first time i played oblivion.......

    including having a champion of cyrodill that in order to become you have to kill the last champion...

    yay for killing other players!

  • General_Gustaf

    Posted Aug 4, 2007 3:27 pm PT

    Yeah, an Elder Scrolls MMO would be pretty good!

  • Stu1515

    Posted Aug 3, 2007 8:31 am PT

    Its more than Stale Dizzln Arms,

    It leaves a verry bad taste in my mouth

  • DizzInArms

    Posted Aug 3, 2007 12:52 am PT

    Well Bethesda always make decent games, so as long as the same work ethic is applied here, we may find we have an exciting MMO sometime late 2008...? (Personally, I'm finding the MMO genre getting a little stale)

  • MichaeltheCM

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:39 pm PT

    ZeniMax Media Company? i'll have to remember the name. should come out with some good stuff

  • silentGENOCIDE

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:22 pm PT

    Elder Scrolls Online...

    I like the idea, it's doable... they would have to change some things obviously... Would it work as a real time fight game, or would they have to adopt the "press this button to attack" system...

    Either way, I think it sounds like a pretty solid idea for an MMO... I hope they get the same impression.

  • motang

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:00 pm PT

    Makes sense since Oblivion was a offline MMO in itself. Will be looking forward to what they create!

  • HicktownMayor

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 5:58 pm PT

    Hmmm... TES V: Online, sounds interesting, I like it. First off let me say this: axia_777, WoW doesn't "own" the MMO world. They may have 8-9 mil players online but there are so many other GREAT (million(s)+) games out there: Guild Wars Prohphecies/Factions/Nightfall/Eye of North (and soon GW2), City of Villians/Heroes, Lord of the Rings Onine (soon will be HUGE), and Warhammer Onine. Plus, GW has one up on these games because it has no monthly fees.
    Okay, now that's out of the way, TES V could possibly be the best MMO out there, if they do it right. I always thought that TES IV needed some kinda multiplayer. Haven't you always dreamed of having your friends characters help you do quests instead of dumb AI guards or no help at all? I mean the game would be twice as fun with 2 live players (or more). Maybe not a full blown MMO, but atleast a multiplayer ability. I'm not sayin that an MMO-scale TES would be bad, in fact, I might love it. But there are enough hack & slash MMO's out there. Maybe they should make it mission style like, there's a HUGE story (like in single player) and you have to beat it mission by mission, either with other players or by yourself. Or possibly make a single player game that you can take your character online and compete in arena battles or shut gates or something along that line. I mean, people don't want another fun for a while, same ol' same ol' MMO, but personally shuttin all those Oblivion gates got really repetative.
    -That's my opinion. : )

  • ryanstoy91

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 5:06 pm PT

    Let's hope they actually put effort into this.

  • axia_777

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 2:35 pm PT

    Everybody wants another damn World of WarCraft success story. It is NOT going to happen, not while over 9 million people world wide play WOW. I have hope for Hyborean Adventures: The Age of Conan being different(combat mostly from what I can see) and I have hope for the upcoming World of Darkness/Vampire:The Masquerade MMO. The way that the pencil and paper Vampire?Werewolf/Mage RPG's are like, an MMO based of of that world could have a lot of promise.

  • jazilla

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 12:47 pm PT

    I have never heard of two of those MMO's. Godzilla online lol...this game might turn out to be rubbish.

  • Evanrocknuma

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 12:33 pm PT

    Oh they better stick to the elder scrolls... if you can do it make a elder scrolls online but if you are going to you better A. Stick to the Xbox B. Make the story line and depth about as good as oblivion and C. let it be free for once! Why do we need to pay monthly for these wastes of our lives do you people really think they are better than any other rpg's? The answer is they really aren't. Yeah maybe it is fun playing online with other people but if I am going to have to fork out an extra 100 bucks every year for just one game instead of buying two brand new games I think I could pass on that easily. If you are not making any more elder scrolls atleast make online free and if you don't do either of those I hate you guys now. You used to be my favorite company Bathesda but atleast it isn't a total split and Bathesda still exists but...

  • runstalker

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 12:18 pm PT

    "It all boils down to the fact that you're going to be spending hundreds of hours hacking away millions of monsters over and over to gain levels tediously one at a time. Mission variety is always scarce, and comes down to the same mission type, just a different zone. Then when someone finally get to the highest level, a person's social life is so devastated that nobody cares what they achieved. Let's not even talk about how bogus their PvP aspect is."

    Haha, you paint a somber picture my friend. One that is all too close to reality for thousands of hunch-backed little MMO minions.

  • vapor188

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 12:04 pm PT

    It's nice to see ZeniMax has online features now. An MMO elder scrolls may not quite be the thing they need, but something like a co-op or multiplayer something-or-another could be interesting. I especially like the idea of a co-op with a friend or two.

  • KorJax

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:43 am PT

    Lilac... this isnt Bethesda doign tyhis, its Bethesda's bosses that are creating another sub-company. Kinda like how EA owns DICE, but they still make thier own games (like Madden).

  • Cobra5

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:43 am PT

    More generic MMOs.

  • linksfire

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:32 am PT

    this may be kool, it seems to have potential if they work it rite. i hope they are thinking about making elder scrolls: online that would be sweet.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:26 am PT

    Not another one jumping on the MMO bandwagon.

  • Lilac_Benjie

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:18 am PT

    Bethesda should focus on creating an immersive and open ended single player experience by expanding on the AI mechanics.

  • Bloodhawk_DX

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:17 am PT

    @ piinshot: Correction, all MMORPG's are boring...regardless of the time they're based in. Whether you're doing it with katanas, or guns, hell... anything, any style, any time frame. It all boils down to the fact that you're going to be spending hundreds of hours hacking away millions of monsters over and over to gain levels tediously one at a time. Mission variety is always scarce, and comes down to the same mission type, just a different zone. Then when someone finally get to the highest level, a person's social life is so devastated that nobody cares what they achieved. Let's not even talk about how bogus their PvP aspect is.

  • lamprey263

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:12 am PT

    Jeez, an Oblivion MMORPG, like that's original. I mean, after all, how many MMORPGs take place in a world filled with elves and orcs and humans who devote all their time to one task each day, all day, just to level up?

  • Johnny_2_Shoes

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 11:03 am PT

    Elderscrolls Online = Darkfall

  • Berem

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 10:35 am PT

    Resident evil is made by capcom, so it would be their choice.. but this is cool hopefully something like Oblivion but online would be insane, true competition to WoW.

  • Stilwell28

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 10:28 am PT

    Should make Resident Evil into a mmo How cool would that be.

  • piinshot

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 10:20 am PT

    Elder Scrolls is really over rated...i hate that game so much!i have forced myself to get into it but it is just boaring...in fact i find almost any medievil type game the same. More sci fi and samurai era MMO please!

  • finaleve

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 10:13 am PT

    TMontana1004 > Hahaha, no. WoW has its nerds, sure. There are some hardcore gamers in it, but every game has them. EVEN SINGLE PLAYER GAMES! WoW has a plethora of people on it. I've met families on there that play together, couples and people who have a regular life on there. So not everyone is who you think they are.
    It's like me saying Maple Story is full of emos and kids, or saying that GameFAQs is full of people under 13. Its not true, but there are a few here and there.

    Hm, i never heard of Godzilla or Aliens Online, but if they did do well, then possibly they could make a good game.

  • doomsoth

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 10:09 am PT

    I hope they don't turn the Elder Scrolls into an MMO.

  • Grodus5

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 10:01 am PT

    I love MMORPG. I would love one Elder Scrolls MMORPG, but I would like single player ones too. They would also have to add more production skills into it to make a sucessful MMORPG.

  • Mp5slipknot

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:52 am PT

    I hope they don't permanently turn Elder Scrolls into an MMORPG. I mean sure maybe one Elder Scrolls Online would be cool, but I feel like it would kind of sell part of it's soul. But that is just me.

  • Bill900

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:45 am PT

    Sounds good... even if it isn't Elder Scrolls or Fallout it should still be pretty decent. All they need to do to make it a great game is have it free to play after you buy the game or at least have the price lower than $15 a month.

  • Mar044

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:18 am PT

    OMG, could you imagine, yes they could bring us fallout online and elder scrolls online

  • bossjimbob

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:11 am PT

    Elder Scrolls Online would own.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:05 am PT

    I guess the guy knows what he is doing. Dark Age of Camelot got a 9.1...But I think there have been enough MMO's for a while.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 9:02 am PT

    God no more mmo's

  • DryvBy2

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:58 am PT

    Ok, isn't there enough crappy MMOs to last someone a lifetime? I'm tired of MMOs for the PC. The PC shouldn't be used to mooch off of people's credit cards. Granted, I understand why we pay a fee for some games, but look at World of Warcraft. $14 a month to "keep the servers up and running". You're telling me that with 8 million people you can't lower that cost? I paid $50 for the game and then $40 or something for the expansion...

  • ShockG707

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:53 am PT

    The whole MMO industry reminds me of the Californian Gold Rush...with very little gold to be found.

  • StSk8ter29

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:50 am PT

    Please please please take all the care you put into the elder scroll series and make it online. If that world was online I would have never left it.

  • P1zzaman

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:47 am PT

    When companies think of MMO, they think of MASS profit. They all look at WoW as an example, but most ultimately fail because this trend is getting old

  • danpc

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:44 am PT

    werent all those MMO's bad?

    and this post says nothing about ES online.... why do people assume that, the MMO field is a lucrative market, every company is doing it.

  • the_crosbie

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:41 am PT

    that would be awsome IF TES V was online

  • Agreb91

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:37 am PT

    Cool. Maybe they will actually make a cool MMO, not a stupid one with aliens and all that magic crap.

  • TMontana1004

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:20 am PT

    I agree EIZilcho. WoW is filled with nerds who have no life that play WoW for hours at a time. Hopefully this will be badass. Oh and whoever is sayig this will be Elder Scrolls, you are probably wrong. Bethesda stated in an interview that they are definitely interested in an Elder Scrolls MMO but we will not be seeing any MMO any time soon. Maybe I'm wrong -- this could be it.

  • ElZilcho

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:15 am PT

    jesus, another mmo, wow! oh how exciting, the anticipation is overwhelming, now if i could only cough sarcasm, anyway i just ask that they dont make another world of warcraft fantasy rpg dorkfest, please let it be something cool something super rad fast paced with badass ninjas badass comandos and lots of cool flashy and powerful explosions that'll appeal to all kinds of nongeek gamers like me.

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