Willits: "Rage would have been rushed without Zenimax"

Tim Willits, creative director of id software, has praised parent company Zenimax for the support it has offered during the development of Rage, telling GamesIndustry.biz that the company operates a very hands-off style of management.

Speaking during the Eurogamer Expo, Willits was unequivocal in his position on the company which acquired the previously independent id, highlighting the fact that the buyout had allowed Rage to become a better product, released only when it was finished.

"What's really great about Bethesda and Zenimax is that they're like, 'you know what, you guys have been really successful. We don't want to mess that up. So you guys do exactly what you're doing'," said Willits.

"I can tell you that if we weren't part of the Zenimax family, we'd be trying to rush this game out. So it's so nice being able to say, let's ship it next year, let's get the multiplayer awesome, let's get the game as great as we can make it. Without their support, I honestly think that Rage would not be as good as it's going to be."

During the interview, Willits also expressed his belief that a new generation of consoles which forgoes physical media in favour of streamed or downloaded content would make sense for publishers, but only if a sufficient infrastructure exists to support them.

"I don't know anything about the next generation of consoles, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was no optical disc. I think that would make sense. And that cuts the whole piracy issue too," he theorised.

"Transfer speed is still not there, mass market. Heck, where I live I don't even have DSL. But yeah, that would be nice."