Zenimax Media, owners of Bethesda Softworks, have been busy acquiring studios lately, last year they picked up id Software, and this year they have purchased Shinji Mikami's Tango Gameworks. Next up is Swedish developer Machinegames. Now you may not have heard of Machinegames, but they are made up of the core group of developers responsible for some of Starbreeze Studios' biggest hits such as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness.
They are now working on a brand new game at their new studio (founded last year) using id Software's id Tech 5 (as seen in Rage).
Jerk Gustafsson, the studio's CEO and game director had the following to say in the press release "Working with our new colleagues at id and the world class publisher, Bethesda Softworks, is a tremendous opportunity."
"MachineGames has assembled a dedicated team that has extensive experience working together to produce quality games. We are excited to create a new AAA title for gamers on id Tech 5 that will push the game development envelope."
Rumours of the deal had been floating around since last week, but now it has been officially confirmed.