As Bethesda announced on Twitter, Robert A. Altman has passed away. He founded the company ZeniMax in 1999 and had been its CEO since then.
Who was Robert A. Altman? Altman was born in 1947 and was a trained lawyer like his father. After several years in various law firms, he founded the company ZeniMax Media in 1999 together with Christopher Weaver.
Weaver was the founder of Bethesda Softworks, which was integrated as a subsidiary into ZeniMax. However, he left the company in 2002.
Until his death, Altman was CEO and Chairperson of the company.
Altman maintained constant email contact during the pandemic
This is how Bethesda said goodbye: On Twitter, the publisher announced on February 4 that Robert A. Altman had passed away. They referred to him as a “true visionary, friend, and a person who believed in the spirit of people and the power of what they can achieve together.”
The tweet also includes an anecdote from the time of the Corona pandemic. He reportedly sent out an email to employees every week to stay in touch with everyone. One of those emails was also published in the image:
To conclude the emotional post, it says:
We are proud to carry on the values and principles that Robert taught us. Our thoughts are with Robert’s family, who are also part of our company family and have always treated us as their own.
What is part of ZeniMax? One part of ZeniMax is the company Bethesda. They are known for games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Other subsidiaries include:
- id Software, the developer of Doom, Quake, and Rage
- Roundhouse Studios, which controversially joined the company in 2019
- MachineGames, the developer of Wolfenstein and the new Indiana Jones game
- Tango Gameworks, the developer of The Evil Within
- The in-house studio ZeniMax Online, which develops The Elder Scrolls Online.
Despite or perhaps because of its broad portfolio, ZeniMax was purchased by Microsoft in September 2020. For a remarkable sum:
Microsoft has just bought Bethesda and ZeniMax – For 7.5 billion US dollars
