The E3 Media and Business Summit was the perfect setting for giving away news about a shocking break-up (at least for this game): Activision will not be the publisher of Rage, id Software's upcoming action game, as many would have expected.

The announcement was made by id Software founder John Carmack, who revealed the new partnership with EA on Monday, during a press conference. However, this will not be the end of their partnership with Activision, who will be collaborating on the next Wolfenstein game, Carmack revealed.

As Carmack told GameSpot, this is one partnership he wouldn't have expected either one year ago, when he looked at EA as the Evil Empire, “the company that crushes the small studios.”

The deal with EA Partners evolves around one game for now, Rage, but it got many people wondering if this will remain a “one-time deal” or it may extend on Doom 4... It's hard to say right now, it will probably depend on how Rage goes.

Speaking of Rage, there are still very few things we do know about it, except that it will be released on Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac and that it's will be “a shooter unlike any other, developed on (our) cutting edge technology,” as id CEO Todd Hollenshead said in a statement. More details are expected to be revealed at this summer's Quakeon (July 31 to August 2nd).

id, which is also responsible for blockbuster franchises such as Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake, first revealed plans for Rage at last year's Quakeon. Rage will take gamers through the apocalyptic landscapes of a futuristic Earth affected by a massive collision with an asteroid.

"It's more than just a first-person shooter," id CEO Todd Hollenshead promised at the time. "We will show vehicles and racetracks, driving and racing elements." Players will aid the villages' inhabitants in fighting both an oppressive regime and various mutants and monsters roaming the wasteland.