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QuakeLive @ QuakeCon 09

Also announced with the news below that the venue for QuakeCon 2009 has changed is that QuakeLive will be back as the tournament game of choice. More details will hopefully be released shortly.

Of course, it wouldn’t be QuakeCon without the drama and intensity of the big-money pro tournaments, which will exclusively feature Duel and Capture the Flag competitions using id Software’s new free-to-play, web-based multiplayer game QUAKE LIVE – www.quakelive.com.

WTF..QuakeCon Coming Back to the Gaylord Texan!

id Software has just announced today that QuakeCon 2009 will now be held at the site of the 2004-2005 events the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine Texas. All room reservations at the Hilton Analtole have been canceled and new reservation must be made. The details are being worked out so reservations under the "QuakeCon Rate" are not able to be made yet.

MESQUITE, Texas – June 29, 2009 – id Software and the QuakeCon organization today announced that QuakeCon 2009, the ultimate video game festival, party, and tournament, is changing venues to the Gaylord Texan, located just north of Dallas. The four-day event will occur over the previously scheduled dates of August 13 – 16, 2009. The Gaylord Hotel was the site of the two largest previous QuakeCon events in 2004 and 2005. As always, the event is FREE and open to the public thanks to the support of id Software, the QuakeCon volunteer staff, and the 2009 event sponsors and exhibitors. "The Gaylord Texan is a perfect venue for QuakeCon and we’re excited to have even more space and greater resources to deliver a bigger BYOC, better exhibitor area, and totally new events and entertainment for everyone that joins in the excitement,” said Todd Hollenshead, president of id Software. “We know the magnitude of this announcement, but we haven’t lost a step in planning for the biggest and best QuakeCon yet."

More id Software Buyout News

VentureBeat has an interview with id Software co-founder John Carmack & CEO Todd Hollenshead discussing the id takeover announced yesterday. In summary, id wanted to expand and they believed being inside the ZeniMax family would provide them with the best overall opportunity. ZeniMax is not a massive public company and they felt that it fit closer with id's small developer philosophy than other companies such as Activision.

ZeniMax came with an offer. The more we looked at it, the more we liked it. The two obvious choices [of id buyers] were Electronic Arts and Activision. They’re the two giants of the industry. But we knew that we would have to go through big corporate changes if we went with them. We know the developers at the studios owned by those companies. And while they have good things to say, there is no doubt about it that things would change at a company of that scale. If we had gone to one of those companies, we would be one more studio. We would be a prized studio. But we wouldn’t even be their only shooter studio. We would be competing for resources with our brother and sister studios.

Joystiq also has an interview with Carmack and the Zenimax CEO. Of particular interest to everyone should be this comment related to the upcoming QuakeCon event.

Will Bethesda be using QuakeCon as an opportunity to show off some of their published games? I'm thinking specifically of Brink. JC: They are fully behind QuakeCon. It's going on as usual this year and I do expect them to go ahead and have some presence down there. I think everybody's going to be psyched about that and that should just work out great for everyone.

id Software Accquired By ZeniMax Media.. 1991-2009

ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, has completed its acquisition of id Software. In the past, id Software has always prided themselves as being an independent studio with the ability to finance their own projects. I guess things have changed. The press release paints the picture that the buy out is great day for fans of id, but just thinking of all the added bureaucracy that will now be in-place makes me think otherwise.

id Software will continue to operate as a studio under the direction of its founder, John Carmack. No changes will be made in the operations of id Software in the development of its games. All the principals at id Software have signed long-term employment contracts, assuring they will continue in their roles developing games at the studio. “This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward,” said John Carmack, who will continue to serve in his current role as Technical Director. “We will now be able to grow and extend all of our franchises under one roof, leveraging our capabilities across multiple teams while enabling forward looking research to be done in the service of all of them. We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am."

Back from E3...

I wrote a small article for QuakeUnity's coverage of E3 2009. E3 was a blas and I've highlighted a select few moments that stood out to me. You can also check out our E3 Gallery here.

Off to E3...

UltimateP and I are heading off to California for E3 tonight. By tomorrow evening, I hope we can have some videos and pictures up for everyone. Stay tuned!

QuakeLive.TV Set To Officially Launch

QuakeLive.TV is set to officially launch at 9:30PM EST, on May 31, 2009 with a Launch Party event and pre-game show that will lead into their shoutcast coverage of the Grand Finals NGL CTF 4v4 match between Fires of Judaism and ET CETERA.

Thunderwalker Smackdown Extravaganza 12

The 12th Thunderwalker Smackdown Extravaganza begins Saturday the 30th at 9:30pm and ends at 11pm est. Thunderwalker CTF is a mod for QuakeWorld that currently has a community site at twctf.com. They do this monthly, so this marks a first year anniversary! Check that link for info on how to get playing!

QuakeLive 6 Maps in 6 Weeks Campaign

Apparently, id Software is now unveiling certain QuakeLive news exclusively through Twitter. The big news is that id will be releasing six new maps for QuakeLive throughout the next six weeks.

We're kicking off our "6 new maps in 6 weeks" campaign with Hidden Fortress. Although new to QUAKE LIVE, this arena first appeared in the Sega Dreamcast version of QUAKE III Arena. Already considered the best new arena created for QUAKE III Dreamcast, we chose to make very few changes in bringing this classic map to QUAKE LIVE. The arena was originally created by Martin Kaai Cluney, a designer for Raster Productions. Kaai is now a designer at id Software working on the RAGE team. Hidden Fortress is a medium sized map with three main rooms - perfect for 6-10 player team deathmatch, clan arena and free for all gameplay. Although we chose to start with a classic map from the Dreamcast, we'll be debuting a mix of new and classic maps in the weeks to come.

ClanBase introduces QUAKELIVE

ClanBase is proud to add the web based first person shooter, QUAKELIVE, to our growing list of games. This wouldn't be possible without the help of id Software, we would like to express our deepest thanks to id Software for their support. We will be launching several competitions for the shooter's various game types very soon. ClanBase will kick off with the Duel and TDM modes using the traditional ClanBase cup system. We suggest you to check out ClanBase frequently because signups for these cups will be openning in the very near future. While you wait for the cups and idle on the QuakeNET IRC network in #clanbase.ql, it may be a good idea to register your QUAKE LIVE name tag on ClanBase, under the GUID's section. Please note that we may be using PunkBuster software in the future, which may require a PB GUID to be added.