ZeniMax Studios Licenses HeroEngine

by Dana Massey, posted on 26 Nov 2007 14:51

You are viewing the print version of this article. The full version can be found at http://www.warcry.com/news/view/79278-ZeniMax-Studios-Licenses-HeroEngine

ZeniMax Online Studios - the MMO sister company of Bethesda - has licensed the HeroEngine from Simutronics to power their MMOG project. They join BioWare Austin in a long line of top tier companies who have announced such a deal with the old MUD company from St. Louis.

ZeniMax is rumored to be working on Elder Scrolls Online.

Simutronics Licenses HeroEngine to ZeniMax Online Studios for MMO Game Project

Simutronics announced today that ZeniMax Online Studios has licensed the Simutronics HeroEngine. ZeniMax Online will use HeroEngine in connection with their massively multiplayer game (MMO) project currently getting underway.

MMO games are one of the fastest growing segments of the video games market, with billions of dollars in global revenues - projected to reach $13 billion per year by 2011 according to DFC Intelligence. Millions of people around the world come together in online MMO games such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and Lineage to cooperate and compete with each other in a virtual world.

"ZeniMax Online selected HeroEngine because we determined it will serve our needs best." said Matt Firor, President of ZeniMax Online Studios. "That fact that we can get up and running with meaningful art and content in the near term makes the HeroEngine a perfect fit for us."

Simutronics first launched HeroEngine as a licensed development platform in 2006 after five years of development. Since that time the Simutronics team has added dozens of new features and integrated key technologies from the leading middleware vendors in the videogame industry. HeroEngine is being used worldwide by development teams looking for faster time to market through the HeroEngine's unique collaborative development as well as unique tools for rapid prototyping and world building and a content pipeline that is optimized for the needs of MMO development teams.

"We are thrilled to have ZeniMax using HeroEngine," said David Whatley, founder and CEO of Simutronics. "We have been fans of ZeniMax's Bethesda Softworks games for years, and to have ZeniMax Online Studios as our latest licensee is an honor and strong validation of our team's hard work and great design."