» Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:42 pm Court documents say Bethesda's MMO already under dev, rumor says it's Elder Scrolls
In this most recent round of court scuffles between http://www.massively.com/tag/Interplay/ and http://www.massively.com/tag/bethesda-softworks over the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_%28series%29 MMO rights, it would seem that some http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23626 about what's going on at Bethesda's MMO "branch", http://www.massively.com/tag/Zenimax-media/. According to filings, the word is that there are http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=232144 working on an MMO that costs "tens and tens of millions of dollars" and has been under development since late 2006. Apparently these same filings claim that the title is a "http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/" type MMO. Of course, considering http://www.massively.com/category/World-of-Warcraft/ is about as equal to McDonalds in terms of brand recognition with its millions and millions served, saying something is like World of Warcraft could mean anything from 'it's a DIKU-based, kill-ten-rats, FedEx, fantasy MMO that looks rather a lot like WoW' on up to 'it's somewhere in the general MMO neighborhood.'
Now, to follow this interesting tidbit up, http://www.duckandcover.cx/archives.php?topstory=71 that Bethesda is moving to have this particular chunk of testimony censored to protect trade secrets. To stir the pot a bit further on why they might be scrambling to block it, VG247 have a source they claim is reliable http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/20/source-bethesdas-elder-scrolls-mmo-missed-its-2009-reveal/. What's more, their source says the http://www.elderscrolls.com/ MMO should have been announced last year.
Holding off on a Fallout MMO, we can understand. Bethesda doesn't have the clear rights to the Fallout MMO IP as yet like they do with http://fallout.gamesas.com/index.html, so to announce it early would be folly. At the rate things are proceeding, heavens only knows how long the Interplay/Bethesda proceedings will drag out, so one could argue developing it before this is all settled would be folly too, considering how fast technology evolves.
As for the reasons on http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/ back, we have some problem with justifying the rumors of delay. After all, Bethesda clearly owns the rights to Elder Scrolls, and starting the hype machine up several years before release wouldn't exactly be a surprisingly new tactic from any company in the games industry.
Still, there are tasty tidbits that support an Elder Scrolls MMO offering, such as Todd Howard's statement that there's "http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/, Zenimax holding http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/ after http://www.massively.com/2007/11/02/an-elder-scrolls-mmo-in-the-works/, and the slip-up by a book publisher that noted the http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/24/elder-scrolls-novel-listing-mentions-next-game-set-200-years-af/.
Whether the game those nearly 100 souls are busy working on is the oft asked for Elder Scrolls MMO, or if they are indeed elbows-deep in a Fallout MMO despite counsel's http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23626, who knows. Both games would undoubtedly have a following, and could stand to make Bethesda/Zenimax some nice cash if done well.
[via http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/20/secret-world-of-warcraft-type-mmo-in-development-at-bethesda/]
In this most recent round of court scuffles between http://www.massively.com/tag/Interplay/ and http://www.massively.com/tag/bethesda-softworks over the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_%28series%29 MMO rights, it would seem that some http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23626 about what's going on at Bethesda's MMO "branch", http://www.massively.com/tag/Zenimax-media/. According to filings, the word is that there are http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=232144 working on an MMO that costs "tens and tens of millions of dollars" and has been under development since late 2006. Apparently these same filings claim that the title is a "http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/" type MMO. Of course, considering http://www.massively.com/category/World-of-Warcraft/ is about as equal to McDonalds in terms of brand recognition with its millions and millions served, saying something is like World of Warcraft could mean anything from 'it's a DIKU-based, kill-ten-rats, FedEx, fantasy MMO that looks rather a lot like WoW' on up to 'it's somewhere in the general MMO neighborhood.'
Now, to follow this interesting tidbit up, http://www.duckandcover.cx/archives.php?topstory=71 that Bethesda is moving to have this particular chunk of testimony censored to protect trade secrets. To stir the pot a bit further on why they might be scrambling to block it, VG247 have a source they claim is reliable http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/20/source-bethesdas-elder-scrolls-mmo-missed-its-2009-reveal/. What's more, their source says the http://www.elderscrolls.com/ MMO should have been announced last year.
Holding off on a Fallout MMO, we can understand. Bethesda doesn't have the clear rights to the Fallout MMO IP as yet like they do with http://fallout.gamesas.com/index.html, so to announce it early would be folly. At the rate things are proceeding, heavens only knows how long the Interplay/Bethesda proceedings will drag out, so one could argue developing it before this is all settled would be folly too, considering how fast technology evolves.
As for the reasons on http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/ back, we have some problem with justifying the rumors of delay. After all, Bethesda clearly owns the rights to Elder Scrolls, and starting the hype machine up several years before release wouldn't exactly be a surprisingly new tactic from any company in the games industry.
Still, there are tasty tidbits that support an Elder Scrolls MMO offering, such as Todd Howard's statement that there's "http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/, Zenimax holding http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/ after http://www.massively.com/2007/11/02/an-elder-scrolls-mmo-in-the-works/, and the slip-up by a book publisher that noted the http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/24/elder-scrolls-novel-listing-mentions-next-game-set-200-years-af/.
Whether the game those nearly 100 souls are busy working on is the oft asked for Elder Scrolls MMO, or if they are indeed elbows-deep in a Fallout MMO despite counsel's http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23626, who knows. Both games would undoubtedly have a following, and could stand to make Bethesda/Zenimax some nice cash if done well.
[via http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/20/secret-world-of-warcraft-type-mmo-in-development-at-bethesda/]
http://www.massively.com/2010/01/20/court-documents-show-bethesdas-mmo-already-underdev-rumor-says/
