In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz (reg required), Willits said id has the full backing of ZeniMax, and without its support, Rage would have been rushed out the door too early.
"I can tell you that if we weren't part of the Zenimax family, we'd be trying to rush this game out," Willits told GI.biz. "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."
Rockville, Maryland-based ZeniMax Media was founded in 1999 by Bethesda Softworks founder Christopher Weaver and attorney Robert Altman. The marketer, publisher, and distributor of videogames acquired id Software in 2009.
Willits said the best example of how seriously id Software is taking Rage can be seen by the number of developers it has working on the game: more than 60. That's a small team compared to some studios, but Willits pointed out that Quake 2 was made with 13 people, Quake 3 with 23, and Doom 3 with 38.
"There is a lot riding on it, we need to make sure it's great," Willits said. "Don't f**k it up!"
Rage is being developed for Windows PCs, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game is set to ship in September 2011.
Sharkey says: As the innovator of the genre, I'm really hoping id does something new/different with Rage. The game already looks amazing and id still has a year to go before launch. That should be plenty of time. FPS games need an injection of new life. 
