Robert Altman, CEO and Founder of Rockville-Based ZeniMax, Has Passed Away
Robert Altman, a native to the DC area, passed away last week at the age of 73, following complications from a medical procedure.
Altman founded ZeniMax alongside Bethesda Softworks founder Christopher Weaver back in 1999. Prior to founding ZeniMax, Robert was a lawyer in the DC area.
Robert Altman’s wife, Lynda Carter, shared a statement on her Instagram today paying tribute to her late husband.
Robert and Lynda (the original Wonder Woman) lived together in Potomac.
In a statement published by ZeniMax, the company shared that Altman was ” a true visionary, friend, and believer in the spirit of people and the power of what they could accomplish together. He was an extraordinary leader, and an even better human being.” It was shared that Altman wrote weekly emails to his staff at ZeniMax throughout the pandemic.
ZeniMax, the Rockville-based parent company of Bethesda Softworks, was recently acquired by Microsoft for 7.5 billion dollars. (Read more about the deal here.)
Featured photo courtesy of the Bethesda Softworks Twitter.
By: Michelle Katz @pike.and.rozay
Did You Know that MoCo Has a Virtual Reality Arena?
VR Zone DC recently launched their Virtual Reality Arena in North Bethesda. They’re located off of Nebel Street, not far from Pike & Rose.
VR Arena is a free-roaming Virtual Reality arena and arcade. Their goal is to immerse players into the world of virtual reality games and escape rooms.
They offer a library of 30+ hand picked games and several virtual reality escape room experiences. VR Arena features 1100+ square foot of warehouse gaming space. Unlike other VR arcades, the players aren’t tethered and can move around the facility freely.
According to their instagram page, their official opening date was back in March– it seems that due to COVID, they temporarily switched to home rentals of their VR equipment for a few months before re-opening their facility in June.
At this time, they appear to be booking on weekends for small groups and individual players. Reservations are required.
Per a facebook post, they are ensuring that each player has their own, sterilized equipment for the duration of their session. They are also deep cleaning headsets and controllers, rotating out equipment between players, and increasing time between sessions so only one group is in the lobby at a time.
In addition to their North Bethesda location, VR Zone DC has a second arcade near Glover Park in DC.
You can learn more by checking out their website.
By: Michelle Katz @pike.and.rozay
