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| Ryuu96 said: I really hope everyone but Bethesda Game Studios (and Tango, for now...) aren't working on licensed IP... I mean, I'm looking forward to Indiana Jones but would have much rather had Wolfenstein III. Blade in fairness will probably be my 2nd Arkane title played (1st being Prey) and I'm looking forward to it. But I'd be a bit disappointed if ID Software were doing Mandalorian over a Quake Reboot, a new IP or even another Doom, Lol. I'd still look forward to it because ID Software but Idk, I don't know if boring is the right word but something like that, Lol. I don't think it's Mandalorian though, I think if it was then it would have either been leaked already, hinted at by the FTC as they would have said "YOU TOOK A HIGHLY POPULAR IP AWAY FROM SONY CONSOLES THAT ISN'T YOURS" or it would have already been announced as the vast majority of Disney licenses are announced years in advance and I don't think ID would be the exception. |
It makes sense if you think about it though. Zenimax was in a very tough spot financially during those final years before Xbox acquired them. Mid-late 8th gen Zenimax games like Dishonored 2, Evil Within 2, Dishonored Death of the Outsider, Prey, and Wolfenstein 2 had all performed under Zenimax leadership expectations.
Meanwhile Disney was just starting to get back into gaming after largely abandoning it after the Star Wars acquisition when they shut down LucasArts and cancelled games like Star Wars 1313 and then later shut down Disney Interactive as well. Disney used a clause in the contract to revoke EA's 10 year Star Wars exclusivity deal 3 years early in 2020 (it was supposed to end in 2023) and were actively seeking out AAA partners to develop Star Wars games as well as games for their other IP like Marvel and Indiana Jones.
For Zenimax I'm sure it seemed like a dream come true, most of their own IP's (sans Elder Scrolls and Fallout and Doom) were underperforming and then suddenly an opportunity to license out a bunch of highly popular and marketable Disney IP at a decent price falls into their lap at exactly the right time. I fully understand why Zenimax leadership would have been making these deals with Disney from 2019-2020 while they were also having acquisition talks with Xbox, just as a back up plan in case the acquisition fell through.
I love those original Zenimax IP too, but the fact of the matter is that Prey, Dishonored 2, Evil Within 2, and Wolfenstein 2 all underperformed. It sucks that Zenimax dropped those IP in the final moments before the Xbox acquisition but I understand why they did, they were scrambling for survival. Maybe one day Xbox will greenlight new games in each of those 4 IP, but for the time being it looks like Xbox instead decided to keep the Disney licensed deals from Zenimax's final independent years going, and instead negotiate with Disney for exclusivity on each.
Last edited by shikamaru317 - on 23 December 2023
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