Bethesda Softworks - New Studio Opened

Bethesda sent word that they are opening a new studio in Austin. The game they will be working on is unannounced at the moment but as Rich Vogel is heading it, they might be working on a MMO title.

Bethesda Softworks Opens Battlecry Studios in Austin
Long-time Industry Veteran Rich Vogel to Head Development at New Studio

October 3, 2012 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, is pleased to announce it has established a new studio in Austin, Texas, Battlecry Studios, to be headed by long-time industry veteran Rich Vogel. Most recently, Vogel worked at Bioware where he served as the executive producer on the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Rich has a long history in the industry having worked on Ultima Online, and Star Wars Galaxies as well as other online and console titles during his 20+ years in game development. The new studio is currently hiring other experienced game developers to fill key roles for an unannounced project.
“I have always admired and respected Bethesda’s approach to making great, original games,” said Vogel. “It’s a belief and passion I share, and I’m looking forward to building a team of high quality developers who want to bring that same commitment and creative energy to the games we’ll be creating.”
“We are very pleased to have someone with Rich’s vast experience join us at Bethesda,” said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. “Rich has a history of building and managing talented development teams and bringing high quality games to market, and we look forward to working with him on a new exciting project.”
Battlecry Studios will be the second ZeniMax studio located in Austin, joining Arkane® Studios, whose highly-anticipated title, Dishonored™, ships this month. For more information about Bethesda Softworks and available jobs at Battlecry Studios, visit: http://jobs.zenimax.com/.

More information.

Seems risky to have a second MMO in development. For TESO they aren't even sure yet if they will go subscription or free-to-play (which is why they never comment on questions regarding the business model). If they are wise it will be free-to-play from the start. If you start subscription and then have to change over to free-to-play it will always look like a defeat (see swtor) and if you use multiple systems at the same time like subscription AND monetization it looks exploitative (see secret world).

With whatever Battlecry goes on to develop, I think they know it will be free to play (since they are hiring a monetization designer) something which wasn't the industry standard when they started on TESO. Still I think it won't be an MMO.

But I wouldn't mind a first person Fallout MMO with active combat instead of the the more tradition skill bar TESO will feature.

For a moment I thought they would go into the Dota/Lol/Hon space, but since they are looking for experience with FPS and RPG design that seems unlikely since to develop those type of games you'd probably need some RTS experience (unless they approach it very differently).

Let the Bioware - Austin exodus begin!

Smart move by Bethesda, get all that talent in a ready made package as they flee EA en mass.

Originally Posted by LuckyCarbon
Let the Bioware - Austin exodus begin!

Smart move by Bethesda, get all that talent in a ready made package as they flee EA en mass.

My thoughts exactly.
The EA/Bio ship is obviously sinking, save their souls!

Originally Posted by LuckyCarbon
Let the Bioware - Austin exodus begin!

Smart move by Bethesda, get all that talent in a ready made package as they flee EA en mass.

Bioware- Austin already fired a lot of employee in the last 6 months you know.

Originally Posted by azarhal
Bioware- Austin already fired a lot of employee in the last 6 months you know.

I did not know that, poor bastards, I hate to see that happen to anyone. I'm not surprised to hear it though since SWTOR didn't do so well. Creating MMOs has become Russian Roulette with 5 bullets in the gun instead of just 1.

Still, it reinforces my point, any of the talent still at Bioware-Austin is likely looking for an opportunity to get out before they get cut too.

Could this branch be focusing on the Elder Scroll MMO thingie that's being developed? Are we sure that there is a second mmo coming along from Bethesda? That would seem quite a risky venture these days, considering no mmo has come close to touching the quality fantasy products that are EQ1 and EQ2. Maybe a different genre mmo??


-Carn

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Could this branch be focusing on the Elder Scroll MMO thingie that's being developed? Are we sure that there is a second mmo coming along from Bethesda? That would seem quite a risky venture these days, considering no mmo has come close to touching the quality fantasy products that are EQ1 and EQ2. Maybe a different genre mmo??


-Carn

Whatever it is it will definately have a major multiplayer component because they're hiring a lead client programmer and lead server programmer. The number of positions open though does suggest it is not an MMO however. It is more likely a free-to-play game but potentially a high end F2P like tribes - they're still hiring a decent number of people and one of them is a "monetization" designer. That description mentions the game as being online needing to balance free vs paid currency in the economy. What the genre might be though, I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Could this branch be focusing on the Elder Scroll MMO thingie that's being developed? Are we sure that there is a second mmo coming along from Bethesda? That would seem quite a risky venture these days, considering no mmo has come close to touching the quality fantasy products that are EQ1 and EQ2. Maybe a different genre mmo??


-Carn

It's definitely not the TES MMO, that's being developed by a different studio, Zenimax Online Studios.

Battlecry will be working on a completely different project.

Here's a novel idea. Given that Bethesda is raking in pots of cash from making single player RPGs, why don't they make another single player RPG?

Originally Posted by coaster
Here's a novel idea. Given that Bethesda is raking in pots of cash from making single player RPGs, why don't they make another single player RPG?

Because Blizzard and other publishers believe single player games are a dying breed and are not viable anymore. F2P for the win baby.- This is sarcasm by the way mixed with some truth.

There will be more Fallout and Elder Scroll games don't worry. Different studios.

Isn't Blizzard the most successful gaming company because of WoW? Every other company wants the same success and are trying their hand at the MMO formula.

Its most definitely Fallout MMO

That's probably the best guess. I doubt it's a South Park MMO.

I'd totally play a Fallout mmo. Might even pay for it.


-Carn

What no one is going to cry for interplay here?

Originally Posted by rune_74
What no one is going to cry for interplay here?