ZeniMax Online Studios LLC is an American

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

and a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, specializing in

massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are ...

s. The company developed ''

The Elder Scrolls Online ''The Elder Scrolls Online'', abbreviated ''ESO'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released for Windows and OS X in April 2014. It is a ...

'' and its

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...

. ZeniMax Online Studios had around 250 employees in 2012. In addition to the main

Hunt Valley, Maryland Hunt Valley is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, near the site of the Maryland Hunt Cup Steeplechase. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along York Road (Maryland Route 45), parallel to Interstat ...

based office, ZeniMax Online also maintains a customer support center in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, Ireland as well as an additional office in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

History

The formation of ZeniMax Online Studios was announced by ZeniMax Media on August 1, 2007, to be headed by

Matt Firor Matt Firor is a video game producer and designer of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). He is best known for his involvement in games such as ''Dark Age of Camelot'' and ''The Elder Scrolls Online''. Biography Matt Firor's f ...

, a

designer and veteran of

Mythic Entertainment Mythic Entertainment (formerly BioWare Mythic, EA Mythic, Inc., and Interworld Productions) was a video game developer in Fairfax, Virginia that was most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game ...

. The company was built to specialize in the creation of a

. In 2007 the company announced a partnership with

Simutronics Simutronics is an American online games company whose products include '' GemStone IV'' and ''DragonRealms''. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski. The company is located in St. Louis, Missouri. I ...

for the use of

HeroEngine HeroEngine is a 3D game engine and server technology platform originally developed by Simutronics Corporation specifically for building MMO-style games. At first developed for the company's own game '' Hero's Journey'', the engine won multipl ...

. In June 2008, ZeniMax Online Studios moved into its current office in Hunt Valley. On March 15, 2010, ZeniMax Online Studios announced that it will be using the Fork Particle SDK to create the particle effects in its unannounced upcoming massively multiplayer game. On March 15, 2011, ZeniMax Online Studios announced plans to open a customer support center in Galway, Ireland. The company's new facility will provide customer support for players of their future massively multiplayer online games and is expected to result in the creation of hundreds of jobs over the next several years. On August 8, 2011, ZeniMax Online Studios selected

Splunk Splunk Inc. is an American software company based in San Francisco, California, that produces software for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data via a Web-style interface. Its software helps capture, index and correlat ...

to be its platform for business intelligence, network operations monitoring, and operational intelligence. On March 6, 2012, ZeniMax Online Studios signed a licensing deal with Elastic Path Software. On May 3, 2012, ''Game Informer'' announced that ZeniMax Online Studios's video game in development will take place in ''The Elder Scrolls'' universe, approximately a millennium before the events of '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim''. The game, ''

'', was released in 2014. In December 2020, ZeniMax Online Studios formed a satellite office in San Diego to work on an original intellectual property. ZeniMax Media was acquired by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...

for in March 2021 and became part of

Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Xbox Game Studios 2007 establishments in Maryland American companies established in 2007 Companies based in Rockville, Maryland Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game publishers ZeniMax Media American corporate subsidiaries Video game companies established in 2007