Publisher Bethesda Softworks has announced the founding of the newest ZeniMax Media subsidiary game development studio, Battlecry Studios, based in Austin, Texas.

An announcement explains that the new outfit will be helmed by industry veteren Rich Vogel, known for his recent work on Star Wars: The Old Republic at BioWare, and previously on Star Wars Galaxies, and perhaps more notably Ultima Online.

“I have always admired and respected Bethesda’s approach to making great, original games,” said Vogel. “It’s a belief and passion I share, and I’m looking forward to building a team of high quality developers who want to bring that same commitment and creative energy to the games we’ll be creating.”

“We are very pleased to have someone with Rich’s vast experience join us at Bethesda,” said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. “Rich has a history of building and managing talented development teams and bringing high quality games to market, and we look forward to working with him on a new exciting project.”

Battlecry joins fellow ZeniMax-owned Arkane Studios (currently working on Dishonored) in Austin.

No mention has been made of the type of games the studio will be working on, and Vogel's MMO roots might not even offer much of a hint, as Bethesda already has an MMO studio ZeniMax Online Studios plugging away on The Elder Scrolls Online, so we'll just have to wait and see.