Todd Hollenshead Leaves id Software

[sgtcrispy]

It would appear that El Presidente of id has decided to leave the company. To quote from Shacknews:

After many years with the studio, Todd Hollenshead decided to leave id Software to pursue other personal interests," Bethesda VP Pete Hines told IGN. "While Todd was not part of the development teams, he was an integral part of id Software's success as the business head of the studio and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Good luck!

[doom_is_great]

Oh well. Change is inevitable. Wonder what this will mean for Doom 4. Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all.

[Shaviro]

I think we're past the beginning of the end at this point.

[Snakes]

doom_is_great said:

Oh well. Change is inevitable. Wonder what this will mean for Doom 4. Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all.

It probably just means that it's still nowhere near being done and won't be for another 20 years or so.

[Touchdown]

This will be an interesting QuakeCon.

[Nightmare Doom]

Shaviro said:

I think we're past the beginning of the end at this point.

doom_is_great said:

Oh well. Change is inevitable. Wonder what this will mean for Doom 4. Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all.

It means alot....

News like this shows that id is going through a serious decline right now and it's only in a matter of time.

It's no doubt that id won't survive this year which I predict it's going to shut down sometime later this year or next year (since I heard if id doesn't reveal something this year ZeniMax is going to shut it down by the time of next year) not to mention it's no doubt John Carmack at this point is calling it quits so he would focus on rockets since he no longer has that innovative spark anymore and plus times have changed for him as well. It also means id tech 5 is going to be last engine from Carmack and no more id tech engines that is.

As for Doom 4....I think it's going to given to another developer like Wolfenstein once id's inevitable time comes.

[Quasar]

Nightmare Doom said:

As for Doom 4....I think it's going to given to another developer like Wolfenstein once id's inevitable time comes.

More than likely, if id is folded, it'll just be absorbed into Bethesda. "id" might remain as a brand for product releases, but as far as being a separate developer team, I could see that ending.

[Shaviro]

Nightmare Doom said:

...not to mention it's no doubt John Carmack at this point is calling it quits so he would focus on rockets since he no longer has that innovative spark anymore and plus times have changed for him as well.

He is still some kind of genius, but today that's not really the most important aspect for creating a game engine. You need some consistency, a clear direction and great communication with the developers. The direction they took with idtech5 is puzzling. They traded off everything in order to fix a non existent problem. Looking at the competition today, idtech5 is so far behind.

[kristus]

Touchdown said:

This will be an interesting QuakeCon.

Maybe there'll be less BS and misoginy. I'm all for that.

[Necros20]

I wouldn't be surprised if Doom 4 suffers a fate similar to Duke Nukem Forever.

[myk]

Necros20 said:
I wouldn't be surprised if Doom 4 suffers a fate similar to Duke Nukem Forever.

DOOM 4 Ever?!

[DoomUK]

kristus said:

Maybe there'll be less BS and misoginy. I'm all for that.

What misogyny? I don't really follow the goings on at Quakecon, I just know that it's a massively popular gaming event, in which Carmack talks about interesting things for a couple of hours at some stage.

[kristus]

Todd Hollenshead and Marty Stratton parading on stage doing lots of stupid shit and then they got these models they like to bring out for an oogling.

A bit on the BS at least:
http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/18090-QuakeCon__where_a_chick_without_a_bra_matters

[Caffeine Freak]

I wouldn't be surprised if, when Bethesda decided to bring in the reins and crack the whip on id to finish Doom 4, they made some structural changes that absorbed a lot of Todd's responsibilities. Could be a factor in why he quit. Could be a lot of things.

Nightmare Doom said:

since I heard if id doesn't reveal something this year ZeniMax is going to shut it down by the time of next year

Where did you hear this?

[kristus]

From the voices in his head.

[Caffeine Freak]

I usually wouldn't ask, but there's always the very remote possibility that somebody has inside information, and isn't just spewing assumptions.

Anyways, who knows at this point. I guess time will tell if this actually means anything. Todd certainly isn't the first higher-up person to leave id over the years, but he has been there since '96, so there has to have been some compelling reason for him to leave.

[Touchdown]

The actual rumour (from the well known Kotaku article) was that one of the sources claimed that if id doesn't finish DOOM 4 by the end of 2014, Zenimax might either shut them down or turn them into a tech company only.

[Coraline]

kristus said:

From the voices in his head.

QFT!

People need to give id a chance here.

[Nightmare Doom]

Touchdown said:

The actual rumour (from the well known Kotaku article) was that one of the sources claimed that if id doesn't finish DOOM 4 by the end of 2014, Zenimax might either shut them down or turn them into a tech company only.

That's what I was mentioning about.

[Shapeless]

so who's left at id? can John Carmack leave or is he bound to some legal contract?

[printz]

Shapeless said:

so who's left at id? can John Carmack leave or is he bound to some legal contract?

Hey, Doomguy Cloud is still there! Don't forget Willits either, he's also an old-timer there (like it or not).