Say Hello to the devs from Roundhouse Games joining ZOS!

Faulgor

So it was announced today that a couple of Zenimax studios are sadly closing down.
One of them is Roundhouse Games, which is going to be folded into ZOS and apparently help working on ESO.

Roundhouse Games – The team at Roundhouse Games will be joining ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS). Roundhouse has played a key role in many of our recent game launches and bringing them into ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will mean we can do even more to grow the world that millions of players call home.

To all the devs joining, I want to say welcome! I realize this is a difficult situation for you, but I'm looking forward to your contribution to one of my favorite games.

ghost_bg_ESO

i hope to see fights with cut limbs (Rune)

Luke_Flamesword

It may a big news for us, because it looked like ZOS had too small team for last years with all these bugs and update failures and I can guess Microsoft also thinks that way if they give them whole new team of people. I hope that it will mean that ESO will have more content again and more polished content

spartaxoxo

I'm sorry the circumstances stances aren't better, but I'm glad they are here and am looking forward to seeing how ESO is shaped with their involvement. It's seemed for a while now that the devs might be spread a little thin, so hopefully this makes for a great work environment for all involved.

Lozeenge

logging back on to say that seeing Xbox tout Gold Road over the corpses of several dev studios has left a pretty bad taste in my mouth for even thinking about playing this game again. i sincerely hope the upcoming expansion is going to be worth it for everyone else.

Tazzy

A warm welcome to the few devs that are allowed to keep their jobs. But this whole decision from `higher ups` leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Reminds me of Swen Vincke´s speech : "It's always the quarterly profits, the only thing that matters are the numbers, and then you fire everybody and then next year you say '*** I'm out of developers' and then you start hiring people again, and then you do acquisitions, and then you put them in the same loop again, and it's just broken... "

Quethrosar

i can hear a bunch of people saying, "[snip] spaghetti did we just get into "

[edited for profanity bypass]

Tandor

I've never heard of Roundhouse Games, do we know what they've been working on and in what capacity? How many people do they have and what will be their role in ESO?

ArchangelIsraphel

Tandor wrote: »

I've never heard of Roundhouse Games, do we know what they've been working on and in what capacity? How many people do they have and what will be their role in ESO?

From what little I know, the studio contributed to the development of Redfall. I'm not sure what other games they've worked on prior, but they were also once known as Human Head studios.

ghost_bg_ESO

Tandor wrote: »

I've never heard of Roundhouse Games, do we know what they've been working on and in what capacity? How many people do they have and what will be their role in ESO?

part of ex Human Head Studios - Rune + HoV..., Defiance, Prey 1, Dungeon Defenders 2, Rune 2 Ragnarok (shut down after launch and bethesda acquisition)

"Roundhouse Games – The team at Roundhouse Games will be joining ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS). Roundhouse has played a key role in many of our recent game launches and bringing them into ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will mean we can do even more to grow the world that millions of players call home." *


* https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-closes-redfall-developer-arkane-austin-hifi-rush-developer-tango-gameworks-and-more-in-devastating-cuts-at-bethesda/

there were some more posts on the subject

virtus753

Thank you for the link!

The new chapter is “Gold Road,” though, right, not “Golden”?

Destai

Welcome! I hope this brings in some fresh talent and capacity to address some long standing issues; hopefully this results in higher quality.

SeaGtGruff

virtus753 wrote: »

Thank you for the link!

The new chapter is “Gold Road,” though, right, not “Golden”?

Correct. The guy who wrote that got the title wrong.

virtus753

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

Thank you for the link!

The new chapter is “Gold Road,” though, right, not “Golden”?

Correct. The guy who wrote that got the title wrong.

That guy being the head of Xbox Game Studios...

ETA: correction, head of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft, which puts him in a supervisory role over all of Zenimax as well as Xbox.

Elsonso

virtus753 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

Thank you for the link!

The new chapter is “Gold Road,” though, right, not “Golden”?

Correct. The guy who wrote that got the title wrong.

That guy being the head of Xbox Game Studios...

ETA: correction, head of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft, which puts him in a supervisory role over all of Zenimax as well as Xbox.

...or the administrative assistant that works for them.

ZoeInDreams

Stick them on the server team

Casdha

Ha, I was expecting to see some baiting because of the server's tonight.

Welcome aboard, more help doesn't hurt.

Blood_again

Faulgor wrote: »

apparently help working on ESO

Sorry, I can't find any information proving it.

There is a second frame on the "ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS / OUR GAMES" page on the ZOS' official site. Its name is "Kickass New Projects".
So TESO is not the only child of ZOS anymore. At least after year 2020 (the last year that page was updated, considering the Greymoor chapter and award dates).
I won't be surprised if people from Roundhouse Games join the new project team.

Faulgor

Blood_again wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

apparently help working on ESO

Sorry, I can't find any information proving it.

There is a second frame on the "ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS / OUR GAMES" page on the ZOS' official site. Its name is "Kickass New Projects".
So TESO is not the only child of ZOS anymore. At least after year 2020 (the last year that page was updated, considering the Greymoor chapter and award dates).
I won't be surprised if people from Roundhouse Games join the new project team.

I would have thought so, too, but the letter from Matt Booty explicitly states they would help bolster ESO.
See the ign article and the part I quoted in the OP.

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-closes-redfall-developer-arkane-austin-hifi-rush-developer-tango-gameworks-and-more-in-devastating-cuts-at-bethesda/

Roundhouse Games – The team at Roundhouse Games will be joining ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS). Roundhouse has played a key role in many of our recent game launches and bringing them into ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will mean we can do even more to grow the world that millions of players call home.

Elsonso

Blood_again wrote: »

Faulgor wrote: »

apparently help working on ESO

Sorry, I can't find any information proving it.

There is a second frame on the "ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS / OUR GAMES" page on the ZOS' official site. Its name is "Kickass New Projects".
So TESO is not the only child of ZOS anymore. At least after year 2020 (the last year that page was updated, considering the Greymoor chapter and award dates).
I won't be surprised if people from Roundhouse Games join the new project team.

ESO hasn't been an only child for quite a while now. They have some big new game in progress, likely an MMO, that started in the 2017-2018 time frame. I heard about it in 2018 via Twitter. A few ESO developers have moved over to that game, and said so. In addition to that, however, there was Commander Keen, a mobile game that was first heard about in 2019 and was canceled in 2022.

I expect that Roundhouse will be split between the two games, much as Nemesys was reported to be split between the two games.

SeaGtGruff

virtus753 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

Thank you for the link!

The new chapter is “Gold Road,” though, right, not “Golden”?

Correct. The guy who wrote that got the title wrong.

That guy being the head of Xbox Game Studios...

ETA: correction, head of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft, which puts him in a supervisory role over all of Zenimax as well as Xbox.

Which doesn't make him (or his AI-controlled automated spell-checker?) immune to making boo-boos, or give him the power and authority to rename well-established locations in lore-rich games as he sees fit.

Elsonso wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

virtus753 wrote: »

Thank you for the link!

The new chapter is “Gold Road,” though, right, not “Golden”?

Correct. The guy who wrote that got the title wrong.

That guy being the head of Xbox Game Studios...

ETA: correction, head of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft, which puts him in a supervisory role over all of Zenimax as well as Xbox.

...or the administrative assistant that works for them.

Exactly!

Nerouyn

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

From what little I know, the studio contributed to the development of Redfall. I'm not sure what other games they've worked on prior, but they were also once known as Human Head studios.

https://www.mobygames.com/company/54043/roundhouse-studios-llc/

Interesting.

Didn't play it but they had some fascinating ideas and a fresh take on the whole vampire thing.

But the game was almost universally panned on launch.

They also made the Defiance MMO, related to the TV series of the same name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Head_Studios

That one I played.

Mixed bag. Some parts really brilliant, others, moronic.

Jaraal

Luke_Flamesword wrote: »

It may a big news for us, because it looked like ZOS had too small team for last years with all these bugs and update failures and I can guess Microsoft also thinks that way if they give them whole new team of people. I hope that it will mean that ESO will have more content again and more polished content

Zenimax has consistently had job ads for various types of developers on their website for years. However, it is extremely rare for corporations, when absorbing other similar divisions, to give everybody a desk and something to do. In most consolidations of two groups with redundant functions, the cream of the crop is retained, and the least efficient/productive workers are let go.

This is important, because if Zenimax has "too small (of a) team," it's because they chose for it to be that size, not because they couldn't find anybody who wanted to work. So, it's quite a stretch to think that Zenimax will suddenly want a bigger team when they've had the opportunity to create one at any time.

Yes, players might want ZOS to have a bigger team... but rest assured that the current team is precisely the size they want it to be.

LucyferLightbringer

Tazzy wrote: »

A warm welcome to the few devs that are allowed to keep their jobs. But this whole decision from `higher ups` leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Reminds me of Swen Vincke´s speech : "It's always the quarterly profits, the only thing that matters are the numbers, and then you fire everybody and then next year you say '*** I'm out of developers' and then you start hiring people again, and then you do acquisitions, and then you put them in the same loop again, and it's just broken... "

To be fair what good games did those shut down Zenimax studios release lately? I personally know only about Prey which was mediocre for me and Red Fall which was a huge failure. Why would they keep paying them if they don't make anything good?

StihlReign

Jaraal wrote: »

This is important, because if Zenimax has "too small (of a) team," it's because they chose for it to be that size, not because they couldn't find anybody who wanted to work. So, it's quite a stretch to think that Zenimax will suddenly want a bigger team when they've had the opportunity to create one at any time.

Yes, players might want ZOS to have a bigger team... but rest assured that the current team is precisely the size they want it to be.

ZOS now has a Union so it's dubious that the current team size or makeup has been precisely the way they want it to be...

Especially since "the union intends to continue advocating for more contractors to have a pathway to permanent positions". Source

Thorncrypt

Considering that Redfall was a tragic doomed product, I hope that the devs find redemption and a better time in ZoS. Best wishes to them and may their new jobs go well.

Jaraal

StihlReign wrote: »

ZOS now has a Union so it's dubious that the current team size or makeup has been precisely the way they want it to be...

I don't understand what you're saying here. Every corporation decides how many employees it needs to conduct business, and they will employ the minimum necessary to achieve their goals. Payroll is the biggest expense for most businesses, so they don't waste money hiring employees they don't need. Whether the employees are part of a union or not has no bearing on how many jobs are available. That number is set by the employer. Unions simply give the employees more say in how they are compensated and how they are used in the available positions.

Elsonso

LucyferLightbringer wrote: »

Tazzy wrote: »

A warm welcome to the few devs that are allowed to keep their jobs. But this whole decision from `higher ups` leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Reminds me of Swen Vincke´s speech : "It's always the quarterly profits, the only thing that matters are the numbers, and then you fire everybody and then next year you say '*** I'm out of developers' and then you start hiring people again, and then you do acquisitions, and then you put them in the same loop again, and it's just broken... "

To be fair what good games did those shut down Zenimax studios release lately? I personally know only about Prey which was mediocre for me and Red Fall which was a huge failure. Why would they keep paying them if they don't make anything good?

Bethesda Softworks published a lot of games that were not block busters. They stuck with it and collected a bunch of studios that could put out good games. That was one of the nice things about them.

Tango did Hi-Fi Rush, which was critically acclaimed, but probably not super successful in the long term. I think that Arkane's Redfall failed because they tried to make a single player game into a live services game, and that did not go so well. That might have been more successful as a single player title.

Just from observation, the industry narrative seems to be trending towards live services games; the gift that keeps on giving. The announcement seemed to walk that path, especially with the move of Roundhouse to ZOS. I have no idea what Human Head/Roundhouse was working on over the last 5 years. They are the odd man out in this whole announcement. The fact that someone thought they could contribute to ZOS is interesting. It makes me wonder what they have been up to recently.

Anyway, this live services narrative is why I am trending towards the smaller studios for my gaming fix. The big boys seem to me more interested in making the latest block buster live services game. I am actually looking for a fun game with few strings attached, and Bethesda was one of the places to get that. It is becoming less likely that I will find that with the large corporate studios. I want to play fun games, not wallet vacuums.

Dracane

This can only be positive. ESO is a game that deserves love and care, and growth. These developers shall be warmly welcomed.

Nerouyn

LucyferLightbringer wrote: »

To be fair what good games did those shut down Zenimax studios release lately? I personally know only about Prey which was mediocre for me and Red Fall which was a huge failure. Why would they keep paying them if they don't make anything good?

Their Defiance MMO was mostly very good though didn't soar because the MMO marketed is super saturated and their mistakes were impactful enough to drag it down.

Being tied to the TV series of the same name was a mixed blessing.

That show's pilot wasn't great. I still remember some moments as laughably bad. They ditched that showrunner and every episode after was brilliant. But many viewers will understandably judge a show by its pilot, so this would have hurt the game at no fault to its developers.

The third series also made some super cringey mistakes. Like I think at that point Game of Thrones had given us Cersei and Jaime's incestuous romance. So Defiance one-upped them and gave us a father / daughter one in a new alien race introduced in the third (and final) series.

Sci-fi always being a mirror held up to real life, you have to be really careful with your treatment of things like this and they sadly dropped the ball on multiple fronts. I was a huge fan of the series until then but think I only rewatched it once after and stopped at the end of series 2.

Apart from the pilot and that third series mistake it was a superb show but the things it got wrong and which would have impacted on the game were no fault of these developers.

FlopsyPrince

Jaraal wrote: »

Luke_Flamesword wrote: »

It may a big news for us, because it looked like ZOS had too small team for last years with all these bugs and update failures and I can guess Microsoft also thinks that way if they give them whole new team of people. I hope that it will mean that ESO will have more content again and more polished content

Zenimax has consistently had job ads for various types of developers on their website for years. However, it is extremely rare for corporations, when absorbing other similar divisions, to give everybody a desk and something to do. In most consolidations of two groups with redundant functions, the cream of the crop is retained, and the least efficient/productive workers are let go.

This is important, because if Zenimax has "too small (of a) team," it's because they chose for it to be that size, not because they couldn't find anybody who wanted to work. So, it's quite a stretch to think that Zenimax will suddenly want a bigger team when they've had the opportunity to create one at any time.

Yes, players might want ZOS to have a bigger team... but rest assured that the current team is precisely the size they want it to be.

Many companies list jobs that really are not open. This is a practice many in the tech field despise, but have to live with when searching for a job.