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ZeniMax raised $105 million to buy id

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Jul 7, 2009 4:29 pm PT

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.

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