Id Software’s Former Studio Director, Tim Willits, Joins World War Z Developer

A few weeks ago, id Software’s Studio Director, Tim Willits, announced plans to depart the studio. Following QuakeCon in late July, Willits’ departure became official. And the former id boss has already found himself a new home. Willits recently took to Twitter, revealing that since August 1st he’s been working at World War Z developer, Saber Interactive.

See Willits’ celebratory tweet about the news in the post below:

The former id boss’ new position at Saber Interactive sees him taking on another leading role as that of Chief Creative Officer. This represents an interesting shift for Willits, who spent 24 years of his career working at id Software. In a statement to Fortune, he likened the ending of his time at the Doom and Quake studio to the ending of a long marriage. “It’s almost like a marriage, for lack of a better description…. [But] I saw how Saber, as a team, was starting to grow and expand and pick up teams and studios. It was a good time to move over.”

In addition, Willits explained what drew him to Saber Interactive’s team. Apparently, it’s the developer’s independent status that had him most intrigued. Approximately 10 years ago, id was in a similar boat, before being purchased by Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax. Of his return to this kind of work environment, Willits told Fortune,

The agility of small teams and the opportunity to get stuff done quickly can’t be overstated. I’m not saying anything bad about Bethesda—I love them—but smaller teams are exciting and fun. When someone has a good idea, we jump on it. If it doesn’t work out, we change it quick.

Saber’s new CCO also spoke of being thrilled to venture into new genres. After all, id Software never tackled anything quite like World War Z or NBA Playgrounds. It should be interesting to see what Willits brings to these franchises and whatever else Saber may have up its sleeve.

[Source: Tim Willits on Twitter, Fortune]