ZeniMax raised $105 million to buy id

SEC filing reveals Maryland-based Bethesda parent raised not-so-small fortune in "convertible notes and promissory notes" to acquire Doom-maker; Hollenshead joins parent's board of directors.

Last month, ZeniMax Media Inc. shocked the game industry by buying id Software, the previously fiercely independent developer of Doom 3 and the forthcoming Rage. Speaking with GameSpot, id CTO John Carmack said the fact the Bethesda Softworks parent was a privately held company was a big reason it won out over publically traded rivals like Activision or Electronic Arts.

$105 million buys a lot of Rage...

"Another key advantage about ZeniMax is that it's a private company. They do not have quarterly reports that have to go out, and they don't have to worry about making their publicly stated targets," said the programming legend.

That said, ZeniMax still has to file financial disclosures to the Security and Exchange Commission when it borrows large sums of money. Today, the company filed a Form D a "Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities" with the SEC for $105 million in "convertible notes and promissory notes issued in connection with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Id Software, Inc."

The notice did not list the lenders that offered up the sum, nor whether $105 million was the final price paid for the id. Reps for ZeniMax had not responded to requests for comment on the deal's financial particulars as of press time. However, the company has proven its fund-raising acumen before, drumming up $300 million in October 2007 for a mystery massively multiplayer game.

Today's SEC filing also revealed that Todd Hollenshead, former CEO and current president of id, now sits on ZeniMax's board of directors. Led by CEO Robert Altman, the board boasts several other major media figures, including film producer and nascent game impresario Jerry Bruckheimer and Leslie Moonves, CEO of GameSpot parent company CBS Corp.

67 Comments

  • SmokinDankNugz

    Posted Aug 15, 2009 1:53 pm PT

    Neat, Bethesda and Id. Pretty good little combo there!

  • ok_barez

    Posted Jul 24, 2009 6:56 am PT

    pick your fights about what consol sucks somewhere else its, (ps3 is the best if you ask me any anyway), this is a serius matter, i hope they dont blow the good game maker company.

  • chivenyc

    Posted Jul 23, 2009 12:18 pm PT

    @ melty3219: and gaybox 360
    :-)

  • melty3219 posted Jul 8, 2009 5:26 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    melty3219

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 5:26 pm PT (hide)

    nice i just hope they dont ruin themselves by releasing games for the suckstation 3

  • littlestreakier

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 9:49 am PT

    i think this was a good move by both companies. i think id was having money issues to begin with (i could be wrong though) but this should help them make their games the best they can be. also i remember carmack saying it's more of a partnership, so zenimax will let id do what they want without interferring much. i think were gonna see a lot of great games come out of this .

  • meateater79

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 9:20 am PT

    That's some big names on their board. One of the industry's first developer of FPSs and a top RPG maker of today combined... Be exciting to see what they put out in the future.

  • AustXilo

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 9:18 am PT

    @teret507: You and me both. Long live original id.

  • Suicide-Panda

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 8:15 am PT

    Imagine a doom rpg made by bestheda, that could be cool

  • buzzguy

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 8:01 am PT

    I think this is the start of Zenimax becoming a major player in the game business. Maybe they'll even do their own publishing, which would mean they could cut ties with 2K / Take 2. Great aquistion for a great company.

  • Souldrainer2021

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 7:35 am PT

    im not sure what to make of this but i want my doom 4

  • m30w_cP

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 7:24 am PT

    only 105 million? geesh thats chump change for such a well respected game dev. company, thats been around and made first person shooters what they are today.

  • jgartland

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 7:12 am PT

    In my opinion this is great news for Bethesda, ownership of id brings with it the aquisition of the id tech 5 game engine. The engine Oblivion and Fallout3 run on (Gamebryo) isn't getting any younger so this would be an excellent opportunity for their graphics to take a step forward.

  • insanitycheck3

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 6:52 am PT

    It is really a good news-2009-07-08 06.52.20.099000

  • teret507

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 6:32 am PT

    very well.thank you guys for the explanation,it seems ZeniMax is very sucsesful and i guess that combining two sucsesful softwers could make alotimativ games...but ill still miss good ol' ID.

  • YoJim8obaJoe

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 6:24 am PT

    thelittlesnake

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 10:45 am GMT

    i dont know about this... if it were something like a partnership it wouldve been great but the fact that they bought ID is... i dont know... kinda sux. but thats just me...


    been looking into zenimax and apparently they let the devs go about making the game as they see fit and dont interfere and make dumb demands like some companies are known to do

  • ccgod

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 5:21 am PT

    Fell the power of the MAG LIGHT

  • shakmaster13

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 5:01 am PT

    Zenimax is the only company where all the games from both dev teams are great. Not a single bad game has come directly from bethesda or id. I think a new gaming powerhouse is born.

  • YoJim8obaJoe

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 4:19 am PT

    lol i always thought zenimax was a engine like havok or something whenever i saw it pop up on the loading screen for oblivion and fallout3

  • Stalker700

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 3:49 am PT

    Well...good luck with that.

  • perfect_chao

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 3:47 am PT

    Still cant wait for Doom 4 to show off how awesome PC is over consoles

  • dakan45

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 3:46 am PT

    well done

  • Phoenix534

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 3:41 am PT

    Does anyone else remember that id Software was involved with Activision before they merged with Blizzard?

  • smfes

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 3:33 am PT

    almost as much as the price for cristiano ronaldo

  • kweeni

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 3:07 am PT

    if they keep making good games who knows zenimax might end up buying activision or ea or both lol

  • thelittlesnake

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 2:45 am PT

    i dont know about this... if it were something like a partnership it wouldve been great but the fact that they bought ID is... i dont know... kinda sux. but thats just me...

  • Shade_of_Dusk

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:18 am PT

    iD is a great company then again so is Zenimax after all Zenimax created some of my most played, memorable and favourite games of all time.. I guess I'm happy with the merge and like everyone has been saying at least it isn't EA or Activision (Far as I see it those two companies are the death of any video game).

    Can't wait for next Fallout and Oblivion installments^^
    And Rage, Quake and Doom 4:3

    @teret507 Zenimax released Fallout3 and The Elder Scrolls with expansions for both which basically nearly everybody bought=] and a few other game titles which names escape me currently. and also take account for the rescission in the long run it was probably a VERY good idea because if they didn't do the deal they could have folded and then BAM say goodbye to Doom4, Rage and Quake. Oh and for the future please try and work on your spelling and grammar just a little>.

  • happyfatman021

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:17 am PT

    @ teret507: The fact that ZeniMax has purchased id Software will probably have no bearing on the titles id will be producing, also ZeniMax is the company that owns Bethesda, which as I'm sure you know is the developer of such games as the Elder Scrolls series and Fallout 3. ZeniMax certainly has quality titles under its belt, though indirectly I suppose.

  • Zathic

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:17 am PT

    @teret507 - Oblivion and Fallout 3 are some titles ZeniMax released.

  • insanitycheck3

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:15 am PT

    It is really a good news-2009-07-08 16.18.29.000000

  • damodar_thade

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:12 am PT

    $105 million is not much for a modern developer, bioware went to EA for upwards of $600 million if i remember right.

  • teret507

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:52 am PT

    ZeniMax? who they think they are that they want to take ID?! ID rocks and allways maked good games.i just cant stand it,anyway what big titels ZeniMax releasd? if they whant to own ID they better some good games!!!

  • Inconnux

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:40 am PT

    sad to see id being bought but it could be worse... it could be EA

  • LithuanianGamer

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:34 am PT

    we need rage

  • SkidRow18

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:16 am PT

    we need doom 4

  • -Master_St3ve-

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:10 am PT

    It's id software how much were you expecting to pay? Glad to see they made the smart move to stay alive during these hard times.

  • pakhair

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 10:17 pm PT

    Id is worth a lot, Zeni will have a lot of benefit from this deal in future........

    We can't deny the potential of Id software.........

  • SDMF_TrueBlue

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 10:08 pm PT

    Doom 4 screens and movies already!

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 8:50 pm PT

    I hope good things can come out of this

  • Colin1192

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 8:22 pm PT

    this should make id a better company

  • kiramasaki

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 8:13 pm PT

    because most people wait to see the gamespot review before buying these games. You also have to realize they include other critics scores and users scores.

  • ZippyDSMLee

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 8:12 pm PT

    Meh that's not alot , just the price to develop 2-6 games.

    @ jazilla
    I don't trust anyone's reviews, critics are brow beat by mediocre titles so much they rise the average to 7 and gamers well.... tend to be the ones happy with mediocre titles slapping them with a 9....

  • jazilla

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 7:42 pm PT

    i find it amusing that with Moonves involved with ZeniMax that GameSpot would be trusted to review Bethesda or Id titles objectively. For Example, it would be like trusting Fox on a ranking of Manchester United when Rupert Murdoch owns the team and Fox.

  • insanitycheck3 posted Jul 7, 2009 7:40 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    insanitycheck3

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 7:40 pm PT (hide)

    It is really a good news-2009-07-08 10.42.54.640000

  • zakkess

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 7:22 pm PT

    @MatzeEdend

    Nah, EA is starting to wise up now that activision has taken over and become the new bully..atleast activision didnt get ahold of iD..then all the games such as doom and wolfenstein would be made every 1-2 years :/

  • Hekynn

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 7:11 pm PT

    WHOA that's a lot of cash for ID. Let's hope they will release Rage Doom 4 and Quake games next year or so.

  • Rob_101

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 6:36 pm PT

    hopefully this doesn't have any negative effect on the games id and bethesda are know for.

  • XenoLair

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 6:30 pm PT

    Let the games stay the same and better! Let Doom 4 be what was Doom 3 and better! Let your future releases wow us all! My 1st computer game played was developed by Id, i love this company!

  • MatzeEdend

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 6:29 pm PT

    It's sad to see ID on the block, but Zenimax is probably the best we can hope for. The companies under them are responsible for some of the best rated (and my favorite) games in the world.

    At least its not EA...

  • PodXCOM

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 6:12 pm PT

    poor id

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