Publisher Bethesda Softworks has announced the opening of a new Australian office based in Sydney city, in order to better focus on local sales, marketing and distribution here and in New Zealand.

The new outfit will be led by Simon Alty, who was previously Managing Director at One to Another, the local PR company representing Bethesda on our shores for the last several years.

“Simon’s experience and expertise in the games industry – specifically having worked on sales and marketing of Bethesda’s titles the last four years – will be of great value as we open a publishing office in Sydney,” said Sean Brennan, Managing Director, ZeniMax Europe Ltd. “Looking ahead, 2014 promises to be a big year for Bethesda as we release a trio of AAA titles: The Elder Scrolls Online, Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Evil Within.”

While the move isn't likely to have any immediately noticeable affect on the average consumer of Bethesda's games in Australia and New Zealand, it does indicate that the company has confidence in its growth potential in our local market, and comes only a year or so after SEGA moved in the opposite direction, closing down its Melbourne outfit.